Tit For Tat
by itabitaboo
Summary: Sasuke and Neji come to an agreement after an unexpected and regretted shared evening to help the other get what they desperately want. GaaraNeji & SasuNaru is thrown in the mix. I guess they share the spotlight. No smut.
1. Chapter 1: Russian Roulette

**Disclaimer:** Someday Naruto may be mine but today is not that day.

**Warnings for this fic: **  
—Yaoi xD boyxboy action because that's the best kind. It is, however, in the mildest, most innocent form of hardly descriptive kisses.  
—Profanity. Mainly, the word fuck and a lot of it.

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**Chapter One: Russian Roulette  
****Friday Night**

Vibrant laughter filled the air of the busy pub. People were dancing to the band playing on the stage. Girls were shaking their asses and guys were predictably following with their dicks. There was the occasional man groin to man butt and girl groin to girl butt but that was what made this pub cool. It was perfectly alright for anyone of any sex to sluttily wave their butt and beckon anyone else of any sex to predictably follow with their pelvis. It was even alright if some of the dudes were lacking dicks and some of the chicks happened to have them. It wasn't a typical gay bar, though. It was just a 'come as you are and have a few drinks as long as you're tipping' bar.

Tables were filled with people of all kinds chatting, laughing, and drinking. One of these tables housed the four subjects of this story or, rather, the two pairs of friends. Gaara, Naruto, Sasuke, and Neji. Gaara and Neji had been friends for forever. Neji was intense and focused but the man could really tell a joke when he had a few beers under his belt. His long, dark hair was often tied back in a low ponytail and his skin was nicely tanned. He was handsome which made up for his lack of charm. Something about hair and tan skin drives girls wild. Too bad none of them ever noticed that he was gay… very gay.

Naruto got a lot of attention, too. It's that tan skin and long hair, I'm telling you. Naruto's hair wasn't as long as Neji's, though. It was blond and shaggy but at a reasonable length. Naruto's winning quality was his overwhelming charm. He was clumsy and often had a thick-skull but he was so damn cute. Not to mention, the boy really had a way with his words. As often as he put his foot in his mouth, he could be a real smooth talker if he really tried. Up until a few months ago, he would have sworn that he was perfectly straight. He would have been one of those predictable guys following slutty asses all around the bar with his dick. Now a days, though, he didn't much enjoy the attention he got. He would rather chat with his friends over a beer than woo the ladies who were drawn to him like moths to light.

Gaara, on the other hand, loved the attention he got. He was a natural redhead and was very, very vain. He always prided himself on being rather attractive for a ginger. He would get up and dance with all the girls if they asked and, trust me, they did ask. He never identified as gay or straight or bisexual. He just really enjoyed attention and the girls gave it to him as much as the boys. He'd say he was attracted to everyone, although, he'd never slept with a girl. Sure, he'd make out with them but he'd always end up taking a boy home with him. Don't get him wrong, though, he was all talk and barely any game. He very rarely took anyone home. That was mainly due to the fact that he thought he was far too superior to anyone he could meet in a pub to go home with. He could easily come off as arrogant but he was just confident. If anyone got to know him better, they'd see that he was just a nice guy in a slut's body. He couldn't help it if the beers and the bars brought out the freak in him, right?

Sasuke was usually unpleasant, to say the least, but he somehow managed to gather a fan club, nonetheless. Sasuke always attracted guys, though. Girls would flirt and wink at him but never really go in for the kill. The guys that Sasuke would attract, though… well… they'd stick to him like glue. I bet they'd even bend over and take it right there in the pub if he told them to. Sasuke was typically very cold and distant. He was never one for idle conversation but he did enjoy it with his friends and _only_ his friends. Of course, the three boys he sat with now were his only friends and Gaara and Neji were barely that.

Sasuke was a hard one to place. Sometimes he hated the attention he got but sometimes he'd let the boys hang around. Sometimes, he'd even take them home with him. Sasuke never picked anyone up but there was the rare occasion on which he would actually _talk_ to his pursuers. He'd flirt with them and when Sasuke flirted, you just didn't stand a chance. He was mesmerizing when he gave you the attention of those smoldering, Uchiha eyes. The lucky people who actually brought that out in Sasuke would practically drag him out of the door, not wanting to waste another second in the bar when they could be between his sheets. Sasuke was pale with jet black hair and deep, dark eyes and he was ridiculously handsome, gorgeous even. It was just his attitude that had everyone wondering how he attracted anyone without a death wish.

Sasuke and Naruto had been friends for years, too. Thus, we meet our pair of twosomes. Naruto had shared a dorm with Neji during their freshman year at university. Neji was impartial to Naruto but Naruto thought Neji was too serious and so they didn't get along very well at all. The same went for Sasuke and Gaara. Sasuke had lived in his apartment off campus from day one but he was partnered with Gaara in one of his classes. Gaara was too obnoxious for Sasuke. The pair of them were magnets for attention. People were constantly swooning all over the pair of them and Sasuke hated how much Gaara egged it on. Since he was forced to work with the guy, he couldn't escape the constant onslaught of admirers. Both Sasuke and Gaara had pretty high social statuses, thanks to their fathers. That, of course, didn't help them at all. Well, it helped Gaara but not Sasuke.

It was a couple weeks before Sasuke went to see Naruto's place, the blond preferring to escape Neji and hang out at Sasuke's place. He'd even slept over a few times but when Sasuke finally did go over to see Naruto's place and meet Neji, Neji had overheard him complaining about Gaara. Neji interjected immediately to defend his friend. His resolve to stand up to the Uchiha made him tolerable. Anyone who stood up for their friends like that, especially to Sasuke, was alright in his book. Naruto, on the other hand, thought that Gaara sounded like a riot and begged to meet him. Of course, they hit it off immediately and dragged their tightwad best friends along for the ride. Eventually, they all grew to appreciate each other and Sasuke even called Gaara and Neji his friends.

They now sat at their table in the pub, happily drinking their beers. Sasuke was deep into his eleventh beer and feeling rather happy at this point. He always had a good tolerance for alcohol because he had started drinking young. Being in the never-ending shadow of Uchiha Corp. would do that to anyone, though. He was full of smiles tonight and he even made a few jokes and they were _good_. Neji had loosened up quite a bit too, although, he hadn't even had half the beers of Sasuke. Naruto and Gaara were having too much fun watching their friends like that, so they made it a point to stay reasonably sober. Suddenly, Gaara's phone rang and he had to step outside to take the call. Neji watched him leave until his red hair was through the door, then he stared at the spot where it had disappeared.

"Hey," Sasuke said, "what's that look for?"

Neji snapped his head back. "Nothing. No. What? What look? Who? Not a thing. 'Nother beer?"

Both Sasuke and Naruto stared at the boy, completely unconvinced, with the same brow raised comically high in suspicion. Neji was definitely nervous. About what, they didn't know but they had caught him in _something._ "Hey," Sasuke said, dropping his eyebrow, "just"—Sasuke hiccoughed—"tell us." Naruto tried to nod to show his agreement but Sasuke was so amusing drunk that he had to look the other way to keep from bursting out in laughter. If you knew an Uchiha personally, you'd know that they do not allow drunken hiccoughs to escape their mouths nor do they smile as much as Sasuke was smiling tonight. It was just hilarious.

"Okay!" Neji exclaimed as if Sasuke had really pressured him into it. He was clearly dying to get it off of his chest. "Look… with Gaara, I kind of—"

"Back! Sorry, it was my sister," Gaara said loudly as he sat back down with a smile.

Neji snapped his mouth shut and cleared his throat profusely. All three boys looked at him skeptically. "What?"

Gaara chuckled. "What were you saying?"

"Uhhhh,"—Neji panicked—"No! Uhh, no! Noooo. It was Sasuke! Um, yeah. Sasuke was saying how he… he uhh… he liked someone." Neji looked at Sasuke, desperate for support.

"Really?" Gaara exclaimed in pleasant surprise. He didn't believe Neji for a second but the drunken ruse was too tempting to ignore.

Sasuke's eyes darted nervously to the blond beside him and he began acting as nervous as Neji. It must be contagious. "Ohh… Uhh… Yeah… Nooo…" Sasuke stole another quick glance at Naruto who was watching him, holding back laughter. "It's nothing." He cleared his throat nervously.

Neji raised his own skeptical brow at Sasuke. He had only pawned it off on Sasuke to save himself some trouble. He hadn't expected Sasuke to _actually_ like someone. Sasuke met Neji's eyes and they shared a silent moment of understanding. Neither of them wanted their secrets to be discovered, not like this. From an objective, sober point of view, the two seemed to share a rather intimate moment and neither Gaara nor Naruto could contain their laughter. Their two usually very composed friends were clearing their throats nervously and stuttering. It was all so out of character and completely amusing. However, both Naruto and Gaara held an edge to their laughs, trying to make them seem more genuine than they were, for both boys were wondering what had just transpired between Sasuke and Neji and both boys weren't sure if they liked it very much.

"Ahhhha! You guys are really funny sometimes," Naruto said as his laughter ebbed. He had to try much harder to not seem so tense now that the honest amusement had died.

"Seriously," Gaara added, feeling just as skeptical but much less tense than Naruto, "you look like nervous school girls! No, but seriously, guys." Gaara's voice returned to a more serious tone. Both Neji and Sasuke's eyes widened. Were they about to be put on the spot again? "Calm down," Gaara said, now taking their reactions as further confirmation that something was definitely conspiring between them. This made Gaara want to scowl but he chuckled instead. "I just have to go pick up my sister from a party. She's smashed and needs a ride," Gaara informed. "You guys wanna come?"

"Nah, I think I'll head home," said Sasuke at once. "I'm clearly too drunk right now."

"Yeah," said Neji, "I completely agree."

"Well, I should drive you guys! You're both too drunk to drive," Naruto offered immediately. He really just wanted a minute alone with Sasuke and to keep Neji from having that minute himself..

"Nooo," Sasuke disagreed, completely ignorant of the offer he had just passed up, "I live down the block, Naru. Neji can just crash on my couch. We can walk."

Neji nodded, completely ignorant himself, and smiled brightly. Perhaps, a little too brightly for the two very skeptical boys at the table. "Sounds good to me," Neji said.

"But—" Naruto began quickly, wanting anything but that to happen. Gaara wasn't all for the arrangement either but he also knew better than to waste energy and raise new suspicions with interjecting. Apparently, Gaara knew something that Naruto didn't. In fact, Gaara knew a lot of things that everyone at the table didn't know that he knew. It was partly because Gaara didn't want Naruto to raise suspicions on himself for injecting—after all, everyone would wonder _why_ Naruto was so keen to keep Sasuke and Neji apart—and it was partly because Neji looked happy and Gaara wanted that for him—seeing as Gaara knew what he knew—that caused Gaara to interrupt Naruto promptly.

"Great!," Gaara exclaimed, slapping his arm around Naruto's shoulders. "You can keep me company, Naruto, and crash on my couch! We'll all just meet back up here for breakfast. Well,"—Gaara regarded the drunken state of his two friends—"maybe lunch… late lunch."

Sasuke and Neji agreed easily while Naruto forced himself to shrug and look complacent. Gaara picked up on Naruto's energy immediately but willed himself not to worry about it. He reminded himself that Naruto wasn't aware of the things that Gaara knew. Now just wasn't the time for Naruto to be wedging himself between Sasuke and Neji. Of course, Gaara thought it would _never_ be the time for Sasuke and Neji to need wedging between but, at the same time, if them doing whatever they were doing made Neji happy, Gaara didn't want to complain. It just sucked that it would have to hurt Naruto but, in the end, Neji took precedence over everyone. If Neji's happiness meant Naruto's misery, that sucked but so be it. In any case, Naruto would thank Gaara, in the end. Tonight was just not the night to be getting riled up. Perhaps, tomorrow would be the time but it was not tonight. The boys all gathered their things to walk out together. Once outside, Gaara clapped Neji firmly on the shoulder and smiled brightly at him, though, it did not reach his eyes.

"See you guys tomorrow," Gaara said as happily as he could muster which was a pretty damn believable ruse, if he did say so himself.

"Yeah, tomorrow," Naruto added, looking glumly at Sasuke who stared confusedly at Naruto for a second before realizing what he had passed up.

What was he thinking? Sasuke had just had the perfect chance to be alone with Naruto and he was feeling extremely loose with his tongue to night. Tonight _could_ have been the night but now Naruto probably thought Sasuke wanted Neji. Of course, Sasuke didn't. Well, when he looked at Neji he _was_ rather attractive. He'd probably have sex with him… but no! This was about Naruto, the blond who Sasuke had probably just lost all hope with, at least, for now. Of course, there was no guarantee that Sasuke would have even made headway by trapping Naruto in his apartment and confessing his love for him. He could very well have just driven his best friend away but, at the same time, Naruto was looking pretty glum himself at having lost a chance to be alone with Sasuke too. That could mean good things for Sasuke. Of course, Naruto could have simply wanted to talk about something that had nothing to do with Sasuke or any kind of reciprocation of any feelings Sasuke might be feeling for Naruto. Sasuke sighed as the long moment he was allotted to stare into Naruto's disappointed eyes and try to decipher what lye beneath came to a close. He was just as confused as ever, if not more. Before he could even try to right this giant wrong, Gaara was dragging Naruto away toward the parking lot and Naruto was forced to look away. Neji promptly turned to walk toward Sasuke's apartment and Sasuke rolled his eyes as he turned to walk with his friend.

"Neji," Sasuke exclaimed, slapping him in the back of the head, "you idiot!"

"Ahhh! What the fuck, Sasuke!" Neji shouted back, rubbing his head.

"We just passed up perfectly good chances to be alone with the people we really want to be alone with," Sasuke said begrudgingly.

A disappointing realization washed over Neji. "Oh… fuck," he said quietly.

"Yeah," Sasuke said gruffly, "fuck."

Neji sighed. "I'm never drinking again."

Despite his irritation, the statement amused Sasuke and he was too drunk to fight the laughter. Neji laughed with him and they continued like that, laughing and joking all the way to Sasuke's apartment, forgetting, if even just for the walk home, the objects of their affection and just how out of reach they seemed to be.


	2. Chapter 2: Forget Me, Please

**A/N:** A floor plan of Sasuke's apartment is offered for reference at the end of the chapter.

**Warning:** The yaoi action extends to a nice kiss but goes no further. If you can handle a little boyxboy action, then you are safe to proceed.

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**Chapter Two: Forget Me, Please  
****Friday Night**

Once safely inside his apartment, Sasuke seemed to forget the jolly walk home and remember that he was actually disappointed. There was nothing to be laughing about. Neji should be brooding, too. Neji swept past Sasuke and went straight to the fridge. Sasuke smirked at his friend as he fumbled for the light switch.

"Water. Water, Sasuke. I need water." Neji was rummaging clumsily about.

Sasuke removed his key from the lock and closed the door but gave up on finding the light switch. He was too drunk for this shit. "Bottom drawer," he answered while removing his coat and attempting to set it on the back of the couch but dropping it on the ground instead. "Get me one too," he said, shrugging off his miss and plopping down on the couch. He definitely needed water. Neji sat down on the couch next to Sasuke and handed him a water bottle while draining the other one rather quickly. "Stop and breathe, Neji," Sasuke said, smiling.

Neji removed the bottle from his lips and chuckled along with Sasuke. "I just want to be sober already. That's all."

The apartment was adequately lit by a mixture of moonlight and city street lights. It was dark but bright enough for the boys to see each other clearly. "Why," Sasuke questioned, "so we can wallow in sober self-pity as opposed to the drunken kind?"

Neji looked at his water bottle with new eyes. "Hm… you're right." He twisted the cap on tightly and then threw the bottle across the room. "Fuck you, water! I'm piss drunk and I like it!"

Sasuke would have normally been angry but he agreed with Neji. He was piss drunk and he liked it! "Yeah!" Sasuke exclaimed, throwing his own water bottle clear across the room. Both boys erupted into laughter as the bottle smacked against the lamp by the balcony door causing the lamp to fall to the ground in thump. Luckily, it broke quietly. As the laughter ebbed, Neji looked at Sasuke with a giant grin plastered across his face. Sasuke felt really uncomfortable with the unsolicited attention of his friend and he looked pointedly out of the windows that revealed his balcony and the city beyond.

"Sasuke," Neji started, "you're actually a really cool guy."

Sasuke smiled. No one ever said anything like that to him except for Naruto. He suddenly felt more comfortable with Neji and he looked at him, allowing himself to smile back. "You're really cool, too, Neji."

Neji playfully punched Sasuke in the arm, laughing. "Ohhhh, stop it. You're making me blush."

Sasuke laughed too and nudged Neji's leg with his own. "You started it."

Neji sat up from his lazy position on the couch and caught Sasuke in a headlock. "Yeah? Well, I'm gonna finish it!"

Sasuke took this gesture rather well and laughed it off, playfully slapping at Neji with his hands before finding a ticklish spot on Neji's ribs. Neji immediately yelped and threw Sasuke away from him.

"Hah!" Sasuke exclaimed. "Someone is ticklish." A devilish glint crossed his eyes.

"Oh fuck off, Uchiha. Don't you dare start! I _hate_ being tickled," Neji said, turning his back to the arm of the couch and holding his hands defensively between Sasuke and himself.

"And what are you gonna do if I _do_ start?" Sasuke queried manically.

"I _will_ retaliate!" Neji assured.

"I'm not ticklish," Sasuke answered. "Resistance is futile."

Neji was so amused by the cheesy line that he dropped his defense in favor of a moment of laughter and Sasuke pounced. He lunged at the boy, assaulting his ribs and shouting dramatically, "The tickling fingers of doom!"

Neji was lost in a fit of hysterical laughter that caused him to gradually slide off the edge of the couch until his shoulders were pressed against the floor and Sasuke sat straddling his knees on the couch. The Uchiha was absolutely hilarious drunk. Neji finally managed to fight Sasuke off and flip the situation to pin Sasuke down on the floor. Sasuke was laughing wildly and Neji couldn't help but adore the way Sasuke's eyes softened and almost sparkled with joy. It was nice to see him let loose like this and just enjoy himself. Neji let Sasuke rumble with laughter until Sasuke could laugh no more.

Finally, Neji asked, "The tickling fingers of doom?"

Sasuke chuckled. "Who cares? I'm piss drunk and I like it! Remember? And so are you! That doesn't mean you can tickle me, though," Sasuke finished, suddenly serious.

"Oh," Neji responded, "I thought you weren't ticklish?"

"I'm not," Sasuke answered confidently. "Go for it, then."

Neji knew that Sasuke was probably telling the truth. That or Sasuke just didn't know _where_ he was ticklish. It's not like Sasuke's family spent a lot of time having tickle fights. Neji was willing to bet that Sasuke had never been tickled before in his life. Naruto may have done it once or twice but probably failed to find a sweet spot before giving up completely under the threatening glare that he was sure to earn from his attempts. Neji pushed away the thoughts of Naruto, though. What he had on his mind wouldn't be so easy to execute with the blond looming around in his head. Sure, Sasuke wasn't Naruto's but Neji was positive that Naruto wouldn't take what Neji was thinking right now so lightly. Maybe other people could feign innocence but Neji wasn't one of them and Naruto knew that, too. Neji leaned down close to Sasuke's neck and let his hot breath dance across the skin. He smiled when he saw goosebumps erupt at the sensation and the thoughts of Naruto were no more. There was something else completely on his mind.

"That counts as a tickle," Neji whispered against Sasuke's neck.

"U-Um…" Sasuke stammered. His throat was suddenly very dry and he craved the water bottle he'd thrown across the room. He thought about being angry with Neji but he actually rather liked it. He thought about pushing Neji off but he was pinned pretty effectively and… well… he couldn't deny the tingles pooling in his groin. Neji had just turned him on. Was he gonna be mad about it or what? I mean, he _was_ piss drunk. Was this really the time to be so analytical? The alcohol took over his brain, finally. "Well, there's no denying that it brought out some sort of," he paused, wondering how to word it before going on, "prickling desire." He let his voice drop to a husky whisper that was dripping with sensuality as he finished the sentence.

Neji leaned back and looked into Sasuke's deep eyes. He was one of those rare and lucky people to earn the attention of Sasuke's truly desirous eyes. He was too aware of the growing bulge in his own pants. Sasuke Uchiha was really fucking sexy when he wanted to be. Well, he was really sexy all the time but Neji never really paid it much mind. He released Sasuke's wrists and sat back on his thighs. He slowly removed the light jacket that he had been wearing the entire time and threw it carelessly to the side. Sasuke smiled at his new view, causing Neji to lick his lips. Sasuke looked sexy with that smile. Shit, Sasuke could look sexy with _anything_.

Sasuke bit his own lip and sat up to go in for the kill. He wrapped his arms tightly around Neji's waist and locked his lips with the tan boy's. Neji responded by wrapping his own arms around Sasuke's neck and letting one hand grip his black hair while the other happily explored his back. Sasuke moved his lips hungrily and Neji moaned very lightly against them. Sasuke, aching for more, bit Neji's lip and Neji parted his lips to allow Sasuke more access. Sasuke eagerly slipped his tongue past the threshold and began to move it against Neji's own slick muscle. Their tongues battled back and forth in a passionate war until Neji finally broke the embrace to breathe. He kept his eyes closed, afraid to open them and let the moment end.

He finally opened his eyes to see that Sasuke's were still closed and he looked guilty. Neji sighed. Honestly, he felt guilty too. He felt guilty the second that he broke away from Sasuke when his other friend's face popped up in his head. The mental image wouldn't let him go back for another kiss. He just couldn't. It wasn't Naruto this time, though. It was Gaara. The thought of that boisterous redhead had Neji instantly feeling regretful. Sasuke eventually opened his eyes to look at the boy on his lap. "I'm in love with Gaara," Neji said, matter-of-factly.

"I know," Sasuke answered, "and I'm in love with Naruto."

"I know," Neji said quietly. He definitely knew. He knew very, very well and that only served to double his guilt.

Neji was always perceptive and everyone in the group knew it. He often picked up on things that nobody wanted him to pick up on. He found himself keeping a lot of secrets that nobody really knew that he knew. Sasuke's love for Naruto was one of those secrets and Neji was pretty sure Naruto had a decent secret of his own that Sasuke would be interested to know. The guilt was stifling and Neji sighed heavily. Neji knew. Naruto would _not_ be happy about this. Naruto had never said it but Neji knew that he wasn't allowed to do this with Naruto's best friend and, yet, he just did. Naruto was always emphasizing how important it was for everyone to remain friends. Neji wasn't sure if that was Naruto's subconscious way of telling both Gaara and Neji to keep their hands off of Sasuke or if it was Naruto's way of telling Sasuke to keep his hands off of Naruto. Hell, it could have even been his way of telling Neji and Gaara not to get together for fear of ruining the foursome's friendship. Why Naruto was so ridiculously adamant about them never crossing each other's boundaries, Neji couldn't be one hundred percent sure. That was something only Naruto would know. Perceptive as Neji was, he wasn't a mind reader.

Neji moved from Sasuke's lap to sat with his back against the couch. "Now what?"

Sasuke moved and sat beside his friend. "Now, we blame it on the alcohol." Neji laughed but Sasuke was deep in thought. Eventually, Sasuke smiled. "Seriously, though, maybe we can just make a deal?" Sasuke watched Neji eagerly.

"Oh?" Neji asked, turning a skeptical gaze to the pale boy. "I don't think…"

"No!" Sasuke exclaimed upon seeing the look Neji was giving him. "That's not the kind of deal that I meant. I mean that maybe we can help each other get what we really want."

"Hm," Neji pondered, "but how would we do that?"

"I don't know," Sasuke said, sighing heavily, "but, at least, we can vow to try."

Neji grinned and looked out to the balcony, nodding his head in approval and feeling rather confident that he, at least, could keep up his end of the deal. He didn't see it being very hard to try to get Naruto and Sasuke together. He only hoped it would be as easy for Sasuke with Gaara, too. This was Neji's ticket to redemption. He had kissed Sasuke despite all of the crucial secrets he held knowledge of in his head. This would be how he could atone. He could give both Naruto and Sasuke something as monumental as the chance to be together. "Yeah, we can. It's a deal," Neji said happily.

Sasuke smiled. "Deal." Sasuke, then, got up and disappeared into the hall. When he returned he was carrying a pillow and blanket under each arm. He threw them on the couch and Neji looked up at him. "Make yourself at home but puke only in the toilet," Sasuke said. Neji laughed for the millionth time that night but it was half-hearted. He couldn't stop thinking of Gaara. Sasuke picked up on the vibe. "Good night, Neji," Sasuke said quickly, offering him one last, friendly smile before walking away.

Neji stood and watched as his friend exited the room. "Night," he called after him. "Don't know about the good, though," Neji said quietly to himself once the quiet click of Sasuke's door informed him that Sasuke was safely out of earshot.

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**A/N:** Here is the layout of Sasuke's apartment. Just to remind, the windows revealing Sasuke's balcony as floor to ceiling so that entire wall is made of glass. I also added the table showing where the lamp that Sasuke breaks is :) Don't forget to remove the **DOT**s and use real periods. It shouldn't, but if you end up being asked for a password, pm me and I'll give it to you.

i169 **DOT **photobucket **DOT **com/albums/u226/RainbowsWorthRain/Fic-Related/SasukesTFT_zpsb0d88c50 **DOT **png


	3. Chapter 3: An Awkward Meeting

**Chapter Three: An Awkward Meeting  
****Saturday**

"Hey! Up! Get up, I said!" Naruto groaned angrily at the pain that shot through his body as he slammed into the floor. He opened his eyes to see Gaara hovering above him with a far too amused grin on his face. "Shoulda listened to me," Gaara said nonchalantly, like he didn't just shove Naruto off of the couch to the floor.

Naruto waved a cursing finger at Gaara. "Fuck you."

Gaara's smile widened. "So you're really awake now?" Gaara walked around the couch and into the kitchen as he spoke. "I tried to wake you politely four times. Then, I yelled at you for like five whole minutes. You just kept groaning at me so I gave up and shoved you off the couch. Thirsty?" He turned to look at Naruto over his shoulder but Naruto was still on the ground out of view. "Hey! You fall back asleep?"

"No! I'm awake, asshole." Naruto lifted himself off of the floor and rolled onto his back on the couch.

"Well, not for long if you lay back down," Gaara pointed out as he poured himself a glass of juice. "Get up. Get a shower. We only have half an hour until we have to leave."

"Huh? Leave where?" Naruto asked as he sat upright on the couch at looked over the back at Gaara.

"Late lunch, remember? Sasuke called you six times until I finally answered. I asked why he didn't just call me but he said he didn't have my number. Yeah! Bull, right? Neji is with him. He definitely has my number but whatever. He sounded weird but I guess it was probably just a hang over." Naruto plopped back down on the couch. He was interested in what Gaara was saying, especially since it was about Sasuke, but Gaara could talk too much sometimes. Naruto wasn't awake enough for this much conversation. "Anyway," Gaara continued, "he called a billion times and I answered and he said he just wanted to confirm lunch. I told him you were still sleeping. He wasn't too surprised that you slept longer than two hung over guys but I told him we were out pretty late."

"What?" Naruto shot back up on the couch. "What'd you tell him exactly?"

Gaara gave Naruto a weird look. "I told him what happened. We got sucked into the party. It was inevitable. I mean, come on, we're two hot guys. Would you expect any less from us?"

"But what _exactly_ did you say about _me_?" Naruto persisted.

"Well, I didn't tell him the dirty details, bro. I just told him we partied. That's all. Oh, wait," Neji went on dramatically, "maybe I told him about those two _totally_ hot chicks that were all over you! Come on! You think I'd ever leave that out?" Naruto groaned and fell back on the couch again, covering his face with his hand. "What's your problem?"

"Let me get this straight," Naruto began, "you told Sasuke that I was out late fucking two extremely hot girls?"

"Yep," Gaara answered with pride. "You're the only straight guy in our group… well… mostly straight but anyway, even us gay folk would all agree that you nailed some seriously good looking ladies last night."

"You're not gay," Naruto pointed out.

"True," Gaara agreed, "but they were still really hot."

"You… You shouldn't have… Ugh!" Naruto trailed off as he flipped over to his stomach and groaned loudly into the couch cushion.

"What, Naruto? I shouldn't have told Sasuke about that? Why? Who cares? It's Sasuke." Gaara was thoroughly confused by Naruto's behavior. "I know you haven't been laid in a while but you'd think you'd be proud of the fact that you got back into the groove with a threesome. You should be boasting. What's up with you?"

Gaara was answered by a muffled shout. "I don't know!" Naruto really didn't know why he didn't want Sasuke to know about it. _I only had sex with them because of Sasuke,_ Naruto thought to himself. _If I had been with him last night then… wait__…_ no! What am I saying?

"Well," Gaara started as he walked back over to the couch, "get up and shower. We only have twenty minutes now and it takes five to get there." Naruto was glad for the interruption to his thoughts. Thinking about Sasuke was getting really confusing lately. Gaara slapped Naruto on the back. "Get what you want from my room, as usual." Naruto didn't move and Gaara decided to motivate him with more playful slaps on his back. "Up! Up! Up!"

"Ahhhh fuck!" Naruto rolled onto his back, only opening himself up to more playful slaps at his face and chest. "Okay! Okay!" Gaara's slapping stayed relentless. "Gaara!"

"Up!" Gaara demanded.

"_OKAY_!" Naruto shouted as he jumped off of the couch.

Gaara smiled at his victory. "Shower!"

Naruto rolled his eyes but the attempt at irritation was negated by the smile that overtook his face as he retreated to the bathroom.

* * *

Neji looked anxiously at his watch. "Where are they?" He was drumming his fingers wildly on the table top.

Sasuke reached over the table to stop his hand. "They're only two minutes late. What did you expect? It's Gaara and Naruto."

Neji nodded. Sasuke was right. Why was today so different? It was always like this. Gaara and Naruto were notoriously late and it _was_ only two minutes so far. Neji had been friends with Gaara for his entire life. He was used to it. Neji was suddenly very aware of the fact that Sasuke's hand still lingered on his own and he looked at it anxiously before forcing down an awkward gulp.

"Oh," Sasuke said as he noticed and removed his hand quickly, "my bad."

Sasuke cleared his throat nervously and found himself looking at the time on his phone. He suddenly felt Neji's anxiety. The air between them had been tense since they woke but Sasuke chose to ignore it. Now, however, it felt very thick and he couldn't wait for their friends to arrive. Just as he started drumming his own nervous fingers on the table top, he saw a flash of familiar blond hair approaching and he released a sigh of relief. _Finally,_ he thought. The last twenty seconds of waiting felt like a lifetime. Both Sasuke and Neji were visibly tense and only nodded awkwardly in response to their friends' arrival. Naruto sat beside Sasuke and Gaara sat beside Neji. Gaara sent Naruto a skeptical look as Neji and Sasuke worked hard to avoid each other's eyes.

"Did you fuck?" Gaara asked blatantly. He would, certainly, be unhappy if they had but Gaara chose to push the potential dismay away. He reminded himself that Neji's joy was his joy. Of course, Neji didn't look exactly _joyous_ right now. He looked like a nervous wreck. Gaara could understand, though, knowing what he knew of Neji. Maybe the idea would grow on Neji, though. Maybe last night was an awkward fuck but it would eventually evolve into something better. Gaara could only hope and, yet, not hope at all, seeing as that would piss Naruto off to know end.

Sasuke wasn't half as affected by Gaara's question as Neji was but he was still obviously uncomfortable. It was already weird around Naruto as Sasuke had began questioning their relationship lately and _now_ things were very weird with Neji, too. Gaara's blatant assumptions weren't making anything any smoother, either. Sasuke managed to keep himself from reacting like Neji, though, whose eyes widened as he started choking on air.

"W-What?" Neji stuttered. "N-No! Why would you s-s—"

"That's why," Gaara interrupted, looking thoroughly amused. "You're freaking out! Even Sasuke is acting weird which is really strange, right Naruto?"

"Huh? Yeah," Naruto responded blandly. He _was_ interested in what had happened between Sasuke and Neji. Had they fucked? Would that bother Naruto? Why would it? Why should he care? It's not like Sasuke couldn't fuck who he wanted to fuck. Naruto did. Well, to be honest Naruto didn't really screw anyone as of late. Last night was the first time in a long time but Naruto _did_ have sex last night, so it was perfectly fine if Sasuke did too, not that Sasuke needed Naruto's approval or anything. It's not like Naruto wanted Sasuke to _want_ his approval either… right? _Why am I even thinking about this_, Naruto questioned himself.

As Gaara saw Naruto squirming with thoughts of Sasuke, he thought that maybe he shouldn't have brought it up at all. This still wasn't the time for everyone's secrets to be coming out to play, whatever they all were. Gaara couldn't be sure what exactly Naruto was thinking but he _was_ sure that it was only making the air more tense. Of course, Gaara had already started the conversation. Now he had to find a good way of abandoning it. Neji kept opening and closing his mouth to try to form a response but his throat was dry and, frankly, he _was_ freaking out. Sasuke grew tired of Neji's embarrassing display and answered himself.

"We did not have sex last night," Sasuke said plainly. He stole a quick glance at Naruto who was watching him. It made Sasuke nervous that Naruto was staring at him. Naruto had looked at Sasuke a lot in their lives but something about the way Naruto looked at him now make his stomach twirl. What was Naruto thinking?

"_Alright_," Gaara answered, as if he didn't believe Sasuke at all. It was very Gaara-like of himself and he was sure it was a good way to seem normal. Lately, he'd had to pretend to be himself with everything that was going on, known or not. Right now, he felt that he was passing as his normal self rather well and this was a good spot to ditch the topic. He picked up his menu and started to look for something to eat. "I guess the only one who got lucky last night was Naruto," Gaara added quietly. Gaara chuckled to himself. "He got _really_ lucky." He partly just wanted to seem normal and normal Gaara would have said that, no matter what, but he partly wanted Sasuke to know about it, too. Didn't Sasuke have that right?

Naruto stiffened up in his seat just as much as Sasuke did. Sasuke did not, under any circumstances, like to hear about Naruto's sex life and he was glad that he hadn't in a while. He almost forgot that Gaara had mentioned it on the phone earlier. Naruto's reaction to Gaara only served to confuse Sasuke more. Why had Naruto begun acting so sensitive around Sasuke? Did he feel the same way that Sasuke felt? If he did, then why was he off screwing two girls? If he didn't, then why was he acting all weird about Sasuke hearing about it? Naruto was never the kind to be shy about that sort of stuff, especially not with Sasuke.

"Gaara," Naruto whined, "I don't wanna…" Naruto gave Sasuke a nervous glance. "I don't wanna talk about _that_!" He picked up his own menu and buried his blushing face behind it.

"Why is everyone acting so weird?" Gaara asked as he set his menu down, feeling even more convincingly like himself. "Seriously, what is wrong with you guys? Neji and Sasuke had sex—"

"Did not!" Neji protested.

Gaara continued, as if Neji hadn't said anything. "—and Naruto is suddenly all shy about sex. The fuck is it with sex? The weirdest of all is you, Sasuke," Gaara said, pointing an accusing finger at Sasuke. "You're all… strange. You have… emotions."

Sasuke sneered at the remark but Gaara was right. Sasuke was being awful loose with his emotions lately. He couldn't keep his cool around Naruto anymore but the fact that Naruto couldn't keep his cool around Sasuke either made it even harder. He also allowed the awkwardness with Neji to bother him. Gaara seemed pleased with his depiction of his normal self. Now, it really _was_ time to drop all the topics. He didn't want to start an all out war where even his own secrets would end up being revealed. Absolutely not, this was not the time. Sasuke got out his phone and decided to send Neji a text once Gaara had stopped bothering him.

**Look. We need to get it together. Chill out. We didn't do anything. They never have to know we kissed. It was a fluke. It's cool. Just, remember our deal. I'm gonna pay more attention to Gaara. These are our best friends we're talking about. It's not like anything has changed.**

Sasuke felt a wave of ease wash over him when he saw Neji nod and smile at Sasuke in agreement. There was no point in acting so weird. They had more important things to focus on, like their deal. It took them another ten minutes or so but everyone did eventually relax and settle back into the normal groove of things. Gaara decided not to talk about the previous night's events relating to sex anymore and everyone was grateful. They eventually ordered their food and shared laughs over beers. It turned into a typical outing for the group once it surpassed its rocky start. They must have stayed there for at least two hours before going their separate ways and agreeing to meet at the bar again the following night.


	4. Chapter 4: Always

**Chapter Four: Always  
****Sunday Morning**

It was a bright and sunny Sunday as Naruto paced anxiously about the park he now waited to meet Neji in. It was exactly the kind of perfect day that would normally have Naruto in higher than high spirits. He should be charged by the unobstructed sunlight and bounding around like a wound up spring before basking lazily in the grass. As everyone knew, Naruto loved sunny days. They matched his bright personality so well. Today, however, Naruto couldn't seem to fully appreciate the way that the rays of sunlight warmed his skin just enough to be cozy but not overwhelmingly hot. It truly was the perfect day. He couldn't appreciate the blue, cloudless sky, though. He couldn't be bothered with such trivial things. He was busy thinking back on the events of the night before last, events specifically involving two very good looking women.

How had he managed to do that anyway? He couldn't even remember how long it had been since he'd last slept with anyone at all and then, suddenly, he's got the charm to pick up two very hot ladies and have them agreeing to a threesome. Why had he even done that? It's not like it wasn't fun. He could only bring himself to realize just how long it had been since he'd done any dirty deeds with anyone other than himself when those particular deeds began conspiring between the three of them and it was very fun, indeed. For some reason, though, Sasuke's disappointed face when they had parted ways at the bar kept popping up in his head, threatening to ruin the whole damn experience.

After warding off the thought of Sasuke a few times, however, Naruto had decided that he didn't really want to sleep with these girls. It just didn't feel right. Then, Naruto found himself dwelling on exactly why he _hadn't_ been sleeping with anyone for so long. It just didn't feel right to be close to anyone like that anymore. Naruto wasn't an easy hookup to begin with and he never prided himself on being one. He only slept with people that he knew fairly well. He slept only with people that he liked. Though, that didn't necessarily mean that he wanted to date those people or that they wanted to date him. It was just that Naruto couldn't bring himself to have completely reckless, detached sex with a stranger. He had to know who he was getting in bed with for, at least, a couple of weeks. Lately, however, none of his old buddies or even any of the new prospects seemed to attract his sexual attention but somehow, in the insanity of the party, Naruto had decided that sleeping with two girls he didn't even know just because they were hot was a good idea.

He found himself wondering in the middle of a threesome that he didn't even want to partake in anymore about _why_ he had felt so asexual lately? What was his deal? Why was it so hard to feel attracted to _anyone_? Why was it so hard to feel attracted to even these two very attractive women, aside from the fact that they were strangers and it was breaking his moral code? Why did he find himself constantly thinking of Sasuke, too? What the hell was wrong with him? It wasn't just right then in that heated moment that Sasuke's face kept popping up in his head, either. It had been happening for a really long time. Every day Naruto was constantly thinking about Sasuke. What was Sasuke doing? Who was Sasuke with? Would he see Sasuke later? The answer to that last question was always yes, of course. After the amount of time that they had been friends, seeing each other everyday was like second nature. It felt wrong to be out of Sasuke's presence.

Now that Naruto thought about it, everything felt wrong without Sasuke. Eating dinner felt lonely unless it was with Sasuke. Raging parties were boring unless Sasuke was there, too. Having a beer was useless unless Sasuke was joining. Meeting friends was no fun unless Sasuke was coming. Kissing anyone was almost revolting unless it was Sasuke. Satisfying his needs wasn't appealing unless it was Sasuke on his mind. Wait! What? What was Naruto saying!? He had never even kissed Sasuke! Why would he even think that! It _was_ the truth, though. He found Sasuke's face appearing on everyone who tried to kiss him in the past few months and it made him _not_ want to kiss them anymore. Not because he didn't want to kiss Sasuke's face but because it made him think of how he _onl_y wanted to kiss Sasuke's face. Oh god, why did Naruto want to kiss his best friend so much? Why was Sasuke invading his mind like this?

So, in the middle of a threesome, Naruto found himself wondering about all of this, about Sasuke. Only when he finally stopped fighting it and allowed Sasuke to stake a more permanent place in his mind did the threesome become desirable. He wanted to be with Sasuke that night but he couldn't. Gaara had dragged him along to this party. So, he would have to settle for the next best thing. It's not like Naruto was admitting that he wanted to sleep with Sasuke! No, he definitely wasn't! He was just admitting that thinking about Sasuke _did_ help him satisfy himself in his room so… maybe it would help him now, too. It's not _that_ weird that he thought about Sasuke during the more private moments of his day… is it? No, of course not! He was only admitting the truth, the obvious. He was only admitting that Sasuke _did_ have a nice body. There was nothing wrong with that, right? Naruto had admitted his attraction to guys a long time ago. He was just looking at Sasuke as another guy and not Sasuke. He _did_ have perfectly sculpted abs and those sleek muscles of his back. He also had quite a delectable ass and a beautiful face. That's okay to admit, too… right? Sasuke was almost feminine with his features but something about him was still so undeniably masculine… and sexy as all hell.

Naruto wasn't going to lie and say that Sasuke didn't have captivatingly deep eyes. He wasn't going to deny the fact that the angles of Sasuke's face were attractive as fuck. It was just a well-known fact that Sasuke's lips were perfect for kissing, too. _If_ someone wanted to kiss them, that is. Naruto wasn't admitting that he wanted to or anything. He wasn't saying that he was going to pretend he was kissing Sasuke while he kissed these girls… but if he _did_ pretend that, it wouldn't be weird or anything because Sasuke's lips _were_ ample and enticing. Even if they were someone else's lips, they'd be enticing. So, it would be fine if Naruto _did_ want to kiss Sasuke. I mean, it technically wasn't even Sasuke he wanted to kiss. It was just his lips, right? He often fantasized about Sasuke but that was on a much lower level. Sasuke was attractive. It wasn't strange to fantasize about him. Well, it was at first but after Naruto convinced himself that it was okay to do it alone, it wasn't weird anymore. In this situation, though, he was replacing two girls he was about to screw with Sasuke. That felt like it was crossing a line but if he just mentally replaced these women with Sasuke's features… well, then, he found himself growing rapidly aroused. That was something that was hard to fight.

Sasuke's nimble fingers were dragging fiery trails all across Naruto's body. Sasuke's nails were digging into Naruto's skin. Sasuke's breath was lingering seductively at his ear. It was two Sasukes in the sheets with Naruto planting lustrous kisses all over his body and there was nothing wrong with admitting it. It was totally fine, right? It wasn't weird at all, was it? If it got him through this encounter, then, it was okay. It was just this once. It was also what made that night fun. Pretending to have a wild night with Sasuke was absolutely thrilling and Naruto couldn't help but get lost in the fantasy.

_That_ is what had Naruto so worried on this beautiful day. He had, somehow, convinced himself to have mental sex with Sasuke instead of those girls. He had thought it was fine, then, but when he finally got home with Gaara, he realized what he had done and it was absolutely _not_ okay. He just pretended to fuck Sasuke! Twice! How could that ever be okay? Sasuke was his best friend! What was he thinking? He couldn't deny that it _was_ really arousing and all that stuff that he said to convince himself _was_ true. Sasuke was a good looking guy and anyone with a libido would be attracted to him but it wasn't okay for Naruto's libido. It wasn't okay for _him_ because they had been friends for forever. You can't think about your best friend that way… can you?

Naruto jumped when he heard Neji's voice pierce through to his brain. "Hey!"

"Oh! Hey," Naruto replied turning around quickly to see Neji rapidly approaching.

"You're here first," Neji pointed as more of a question than anything else.

Naruto chuckled and scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, I couldn't sleep well and then I was restless so I came out to blow off some steam before meeting you," he explained quickly.

"Well, what's up? Is it urgent? It sounded urgent?" Neji had already been plotting ways to get Naruto alone and talking about Sasuke but it seemed that he wouldn't have to do that anymore. Naruto had called him and done all the work when he asked to meet this morning. Now, all Neji had to do was get Naruto to talk about Sasuke. Hell, his job was already half done. Not to mention, his impressive knack for reading people had him pretty convinced that Naruto was already taking a more sexual liking to Sasuke anyway. Neji could guess that his job would require more comforting rather than convincing. I mean, deciding you're in love with your best friend was no easy pill to swallow. Neji knew that from first-hand experience.

"It's nothing super urgent," Naruto assured. The anxiety of his thoughts about Sasuke now doubled as he tried to figure out just how to word his next thought. "I just… it's just… it's about Sasuke."

Neji smiled a friendly smile as he thought about how easy Naruto had made his job. He brought Sasuke up all on his own. "Well, you can talk to me about anything. You know that," said Neji.

"And it's about you, too," Naruto added.

"Let it rip," Neji responded, the same friendly smile lingering.

Neji's easy attitude toward the subject of Sasuke was curious to Naruto. Naruto was convinced that Neji and Sasuke had done _something_. The way they were acting at the bar was just too weird for them not to have. Yet, here Naruto was trying to ask Neji whether to not he had sex with Sasuke and Neji was calm as can be, as if Naruto wasn't about to call him out. Neji, apparently, got over that real quick. Maybe they were dating? That would explain why Neji didn't feel weird about it anymore. He was really, really worked up about it at the bar and now, all of the sudden, it's like nothing happened. Now more curious than ever, Naruto just spat out his query. "Did you and Sasuke… y'know… do… _it_?" Naruto wasn't feeling bashful but he found himself not wanting to say the words.

"No," Neji answered immediately, "we did not have sex." Neji was doing quite well at hiding the fact the he was feeling quite uneasy due to the fact that they _had_ kissed and it _had_ made things pretty awkward. Well, then, they had also talked and decided that it didn't have to be awkward. The weirdness with Sasuke had definitely passed but now Neji was feeling weird because he was standing here trying to get Sasuke into Naruto's pants and Naruto was asking about what Neji and Sasuke did. Should he just tell him? Should he not tell him? What should he say? Neji decided on, "Why do you ask?" He chose to run with his curiosity hoping it would squash the uneasiness. Naruto's interest had Neji positive of Naruto's feelings, even if Naruto wasn't exactly positive of them himself.

"N-No reason," Naruto stuttered, growing nervous again. Why _was_ he asking? Would he be jealous? Was he already jealous?

"We kissed," Neji blurted out, suddenly. He had no idea why the hell he did it, either. It came out before he even knew he was saying it. It was always hard for Neji to keep secrets, though. After the shock and guilt of suddenly admitting it, Neji decided that it _was_ for the best. If it was him, he'd want to know. He wouldn't want to be in the dark about something like that. That brought Neji's thoughts to Gaara. He should tell Gaara, too. There was no guarantee that Gaara even felt remotely close to the same way about Neji as Neji did about Gaara but if there was even a sliver of hope that they might end up together, Neji wanted it to begin with honesty. He didn't want a secret looming over them like that and Neji was sure that neither would Naruto. Hopefully, Sasuke wouldn't be fuming when he found out that Neji had let it slip through.

Neji knew that it made no sense at all for _anyone_ to be angry about the kiss. None of them were dating at this time but he also knew of the damage it could do anyway. If Gaara had kissed Sasuke, Neji would be fuming. Gaara wasn't Neji's but it sure felt like he was. If Naruto felt the same way about Sasuke that Neji felt about Gaara, then, Neji had definitely done something wrong and if Gaara felt the same way about Neji that Sasuke felt about Naruto, then, Sasuke had done something wrong, too. This could get quite messy.

"W-What?" Naruto asked incredulously. He was sure of it, now. He was definitely jealous. Why, though? Why did it matter? He had just slept with two girls. Sasuke kissing Neji was only fair. It's not like Sasuke needed Naruto's permission to kiss someone, either, but Naruto was kind of wishing that he did. He was kind of wishing that Sasuke wouldn't kiss anyone unless he was going to kiss Naruto. Not to mention, Naruto was imagining Sasuke the _whole_ time he was with those girls. So, it was really like Naruto was sleeping with Sasuke. Sasuke was definitely kissing Neji. Unless… maybe… maybe Sasuke was thinking about Naruto, too. Would Naruto want that? No! No way… ugh… yes. Yes, he _would_ want that. He _would_ want Sasuke to want him because _he_ wanted _Sasuke_! Maybe Naruto just had to admit it to himself. He liked Sasuke. He actually, really liked him. He wanted to kiss him and hold him and be his boyfriend, even if it was weird to admit. All those strange thoughts and feelings that he'd been having were just proof. How dare Neji kiss _Naruto's_ Sasuke? Naruto felt jealousy well up even higher in his chest and he had to try really hard not to scowl at Neji. "Well, that's fine, I guess," Naruto said, his eyes automatically narrowing and irritation peaking slightly in his voice.

"I-I'm sorry," Neji apologized immediately. Naruto's leer was making him feel really guilty. Naruto couldn't hide his feeling from Neji anymore. Neji was naturally observant, except when it came to Gaara. Right now, Naruto was trying to hide his jealousy and Neji was seeing right through it. Instead of feeling happy of the fact that this was definitely in Sasuke's favor, Neji felt overwhelmingly guilty that he had kissed Sasuke, knowing full well that Sasuke was mad about Naruto. Neji could pretend that he didn't, but he had _always_ seen the spark between Naruto and Sasuke. He had _always_ known that Naruto felt something deeper than Naruto was willing to admit. It was so obvious in the way that Naruto looked at Sasuke and the way that he practically sang Sasuke's name. Maybe they weren't things people would normally pick up on but, as has been pointed out, Neji was very observant.

_That_ was the reason he even agreed to make that deal with Sasuke. Perhaps, he wasn't one hundred percent sure that Naruto would return Sasuke's feelings but he knew that all it would take was a bit of close watching to figure it out. He had already been pretty positive that Naruto would only need a bit of prodding in the right direction to get them together. He knew what was lying poorly hidden just beneath Naruto's exterior and it was love, love for Sasuke. Even if Sasuke couldn't get Gaara to be with Neji, Neji could definitely get Naruto to be with Sasuke and so, he agreed to the deal, hoping it would make up for that thoughtless kiss. Neji wanted to help Sasuke win Naruto over even more than ever now as he was choking on guilt. Things were definitely getting messy. Naruto, clearly, felt just as possessive of Sasuke as Neji felt of Gaara. Neji had done wrong and all he could do was apologize.

"Whatever," Naruto answered hotly, although, he was trying to pretend that he wasn't bothered. He realized that he was over-reacting for someone who was just _supposedly_ Sasuke's friend, so he tried to sound uninterested but, of course, failed. "It's not like it matters. Don't apologize to me. It's… It's cool… Sasuke can kiss who he wants. You, too. It's not like it's my decision or anything." Naruto was now ranting nervously, trying to hide the feelings of jealousy and anger. "I don't care. Why would I? Sasuke is _just_ my best friend, that's all! I mean, it's all fine. Kiss him again if you want!" Naruto found himself wincing as the words came out. Why the fuck did he say that? He was so desperate to look inconspicuous that he had given Neji permission to do something that he really wanted to punch him for ever having done in the first place.

"Naruto," Neji began, "it's okay." He was relaxed by now and, apparently, the guilt had passed. Now, he was focusing on the deal. He was going to make Naruto face his feelings. Good thing Neji had an easy target. Gaara might not be so easy for Sasuke to persuade. "You don't have to pretend like you don't like him. I know you do."

"W-What?" Naruto exclaimed, trying to sound as offended as possible and failing at that, too. If Neji could tell, then, could everyone tell? No, probably not. Neji was freakishly vigilant. He could see shit that no one else could see. "I-I don't know w-what you mean," Naruto stammered.

Neji laughed, feeling honestly amused. He had once felt that nervous about Gaara. "Seriously, it's cool. I'm not going to tell anyone if you don't want me to. I just…" Neji paused, growing serious. "I know what it's like to be crazy about your best friend. I know how scary it is, at first. You're thinking about him in ways you know you shouldn't be. You're making yourself unnecessarily celibate because you don't want to be unfaithful, even though you're not even really _with_ him. You're acting like a fool around him because you just don't know what else to do. Your feelings start getting in the way of things that used to be normal. You guys can't just go to the gym together anymore like it's no big deal because it _is_ a big deal. It is to you, at least."

Naruto found himself unintentionally nodding earnestly. Neji was saying everything Naruto was too afraid to admit to himself. Neji continued, "You can't just tell him how you feel, though, so you have to make excuses. You try not to touch him, even though you want to latch on to him and never let go. You try not to stare for fear that you'll be lost in his beautiful eyes. I've had practice, though. I've loved Gaara for years, now," Neji admitted with a smile that reached deep into his eyes. "I already figured out how to share a bed and undress in the same room without flipping my lid. It takes a lot of self-control and it's maddening, at first."

Naruto felt his anxiety die. His feelings for Sasuke were so new and confusing and, even if Naruto was mad at him for kissing Sasuke, Neji was the only one who understood them right now. Neji, clearly, wanted to help. It's not like Neji kissed Sasuke to purposely hurt Naruto, either. Naruto and Neji were friends. Neji wouldn't do that. Naruto decided to open up to Neji and the feelings of anger and jealousy now seemed so distant. "So, then, why would you keep it hidden for so long?" Naruto asked.

"Because he's my best friend and the thought that he might reject the idea is even more maddening," Neji responded coolly. "The thought that he might feel uncomfortable around me and that we would never hang out the same way anymore is unbearable. If I have to suppress my feelings just to stay normal with him, then, I will. I'd rather do that than ruin our friendship," Neji explained.

"But you've been friends for so long. It'd take more than that to ruin it, right?" Naruto asked eagerly, more for his own peace of mind than Neji's.

"That's what you'd hope for but you can't be sure. There's no guarantee how he'll respond and that's scary. No matter how well you think you know him, your feelings get in the way. Eventually, you find that you hardly know him at all anymore. You're misinterpreting things. You're unsure of his actions and gestures because you've got this burning desire that takes all of your energy to keep down." Neji's eyes fell prey to a gloomy darkness. "You don't know your best friend anymore because you're stuck thinking about him as a lover… but he's not one."

"He could be," Naruto added hopefully.

"Maybe… if you have the courage to make him one," Neji said, clearly addressing Naruto's situation instead of his own.

Naruto blushed, still feeling a bit weird talking to Neji about his new liking for Sasuke. "It's all so new… It's… I don't know."

"It's not new, Naruto," Neji disagreed. "You've always loved Sasuke in some way. Now, it's just a different way. It's the kind of love that makes you want to hug him differently. It makes you look at him differently. Honestly, though, how long have you been without sex, now?" Neji prodded.

"Pfffft, I don't even know," Naruto admitted, unsure that this actually had anything to do with the situation at hand.

"Exactly. Ask yourself _why_ you've been so solitary," Neji prompted. "Ask yourself _why_ you don't want to be with anyone anymore. It's not because you're asexual. It's because you only want to be with one person. You just weren't aware of it until now."

Naruto nodded slowly. "Yeah… I guess, that's true."

"Your mind is only now catching up with your body," Neji continued. "It's just _now_ processing that all of the things you've been feeling lately are different than what they used to be. Your hands were touching Sasuke differently months ago. Your body was reacting differently. You were saying his name more tenderly, playfully punching his arm more sensitively, admiring his features with more interest. It's _been_ happening, Naruto. Your mind just took a lot longer to realize it. Your heart was into Sasuke long before your brain knew it was. Now that it's all connecting in your head, it's freaking you out," said Neji.

"Yeah… Yeah, you're right," Naruto agreed quietly. Cogs were turning in his brain as he pondered Neji's words.

"I know what that's like. Trust me, I've been there," Neji reassured. "I've dealt with the madness and I overcame it. You can, too."

Naruto's eyes grew pleading, silently conveying Naruto's need for advice. "H-How? How? What can I do?"

"Well," Neji said, "there's only one way to get rid of the thoughts, Naruto, and that's to act them out. It's like a fantasy. You'll obsess over it every time you close your eyes until you finally do it. It's never going to stop poking at you. You're always going to be thinking 'what if'. You're going to ache on the inside every time you see him with someone else. You're going to scream internally, though, you're smiling outwardly, pretending you're happy for him. You're going to hate yourself for living such a painful lie. The only thing you _can_ do is spill your tortured guts. He'll either accept it or he won't but you'll feel a lot better, either way."

"Unless he _doesn't_ accept it," Naruto grumbled, disappointed with Neji's response.

"Yeah," Neji agreed, "that would suck but it would suck a lot less than living with such a huge secret choking you."

Naruto mumbled unhappily to himself and Neji could see the fear in his eyes. It was the same fear Neji had always felt about confessing to Gaara. Naruto, however, didn't know just how solid his chances were. If he told Sasuke how he felt, he'd definitely be met on equal ground. Neji already knew that. He knew how Sasuke felt. Neji found himself chuckling, as the thought that Naruto was so scared and so clueless of just how stupid that fear was amused him.

"Your chances are a lot higher than you think," Neji informed Naruto. He found himself thinking of Gaara. Was he just stupidly clueless, too? Was Neji afraid of nothing? He didn't know how Gaara felt and, even if it was a fifty percent chance of rejection, it was a fifty percent chance of acceptance, too. Why had Neji been such a coward for so long? He had deprived himself of the possibility of love, the only love he's ever wanted. Neji thought about forgetting the deal and just going straight to Gaara right now. Fuck the middle man. He just wanted to confess!

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, interrupting Neji's thoughts. Neji's comment was rather cryptic to the blond, who didn't have the facts that Neji did.

Neji wasn't sure that it would be okay to just straight up tell Naruto how Sasuke felt, so he chose to take the mysterious route. "You'll figure it out. I suggest just talking to Sasuke. Be a man about it."

"Yeah, well, I don't see you confessing to Gaara," Naruto argued. "I'll just up and say it out to Sasuke when you blurt it out to Gaara."

"That's what I plan on doing," Neji assured. "Naruto, don't let this drag on as I have done with Gaara. It will destroy you. Sasuke can understand that, too," Neji slipped out unintentionally.

Naruto shot in before Neji could go on. "What? Sasuke can understand what?"

"Nothing," said Neji quickly. "What I'm trying to say is that you have to find the courage to just say it. There's not as much to fear as you think."

There Neji was with cryptic shit about nothing to fear. "What do you know that I don't?" Naruto questioned skeptically.

Neji chuckled. "Let's see… I know what years of a secret love that has tortured me to the bone feels like," Neji retorted. "Trust me and just talk to Sasuke. Tell him how you feel. I've been fearing Gaara's reaction for so long that I've actually forgotten what I'm afraid of. Like you said earlier, shouldn't we believe that our friendships are too strong to be broken by something like this?"

Naruto nodded slowly. Neji was making a good point. He swallowed down a nervous lump in his throat. "I'm just… I'm scared, Neji," Naruto admitted reluctantly.

Neji smiled warmly and effectively subdued Naruto's fear. "So am I, Naruto. So am I but we can't let something as trivial as that hold us back from what we truly want, can we? This is love we're talking about and if you feel for Sasuke even a fragment of what I feel for Gaara, then, this is the kind of love that lasts a lifetime. It's the kind of love that only fools would watch fly by from the sidelines."

Naruto smiled weakly. Neji could give a real motivational speech when he tried but Naruto couldn't help feeling a bit uneasy about it all, still. How the hell was he just supposed to tell Sasuke that he was in love with him? It's not like admitting that he loves pie or chocolate or ramen. This was admitting the he loves Sasuke. That wasn't easy. Hell, it didn't even seem possible without throwing up, at this point.

Naruto's phone suddenly rang and he fished it from his pocket. He shifted his weight nervously from side to side as he flung it up to show Neji the caller ID. He was holding his breath and squeezing his brows into an anxious knot. His mouth was glued shut but his eyes were, clearly, screaming 'what do I do'.

"Answer it!" Neji exclaimed hurriedly.

Naruto let loose a short shout to release some tension before moving to answer. His thumb hovered uncertainly over the screen illuminated with Sasuke's face before descending decidedly down onto the 'reject' button.

Neji groaned unhappily. "Pussy," he exclaimed partly playful and partly disappointed.

"Am not!" Naruto defied quickly. It was clear that he didn't believe himself, though. He knew that it was true. He was downright terrified. The fear intensified as his phone lit back up with the picture of Sasuke's face. He gave Neji a resolved nod, more to convince himself that he was actually going to answer than Neji. He, then, took in a deep breath and nodded again with determination, willing his thumb to press the correct button this time. His thumb loomed ever closer and closer until it made contact with the screen. Naruto released his breath quickly and began to panic. He shot the phone up quickly to his ear and tried to speak as inconspicuously as possible.

"Hello…?"


	5. Chapter 5: A Shift in the Wind

**A/N:** I can't help the life that this fic has taken on. When I started it, I was wingin' it completely but now it has found it's own path. It has become much more about Gaara and Neji and much less about Sasuke and Naruto. I'm switching the focus, it seems. If you're not particularly happy about this change in main characters, then I'm sorry. I can't change the path of destiny, though. The story has revealed itself to me. I can only write it as it comes. I hope my old readers will still be happy with the story. If not, PM me about it. I think that the title I chose for this chapter is even more fitting than it was before. Indeed, there has been a shift in the wind.

* * *

**Chapter Five: A Shift in the Wind  
****Sunday Morning**

"What's wrong, Naru?" Sasuke asked, immediately recognizing the strange tone to his friend's voice.

"Uh… What… Uh… No… Nothing…" Naruto stammered, grimacing as he realized just how unconvincing he sounded and cursing Sasuke for knowing him so well.

"Come off it, dobe," Sasuke insisted. "What's up? You sound… I don't know… weird. What are you doing?"

The question came out automatically. After a few long years of close friendship, Sasuke had learned that any time Naruto was as obviously awkward as he was now meant that Naruto was probably up to something scandalous. It was almost second nature to ask what the blond was doing, lest it be scheming for a prank against an unsuspecting victim which, more often than not, was Sasuke himself. In the case of Naruto Uzumaki, it seemed, outgrowing the age for pranks was not something that could be done. Then, a thought occurred to Sasuke. What if Naruto was with someone right now? What if he was with someone in the way that he had been with those two girls? Sasuke hesitated only a mere moment longer, not bothering to stop the question leaving his lips.

"Who are you with?" Sasuke asked, sounding much more accusatory than inquiring.

"I…" Naruto began, dragging the syllable out dramatically while looking to Neji for help.

Neji, however, only shrugged his shoulders helplessly and shook his head to convey that he had no idea what Naruto should do or say. Naruto began to panic even further. Was it okay that Naruto was with Neji right now? What should he say? He was afraid to address Sasuke's questions so, instead, he settled on addressing what came before.

"I… am not… feeling weird," said Naruto, his voice rising precariously at the end and making him sound very guilty. Of what exactly he felt that he sounded so guilty of, Naruto didn't know. Was he even committing a crime against Sasuke right now?

"Is that a question or a statement?" asked Sasuke.

Sasuke was feeling uneasy and almost sick at the thought that Naruto might be with someone that Sasuke didn't want him to be with right now and that Sasuke could do nothing about it. However, there was an unintentionally comedic tinge to Naruto's tone that was urging Sasuke to laugh, as serious as this situation could potentially be.

"I'm fine," said Naruto, trying to sound firm and convincing but failing. The result was an odd mixture between confident and clueless.

"No, you're not," Sasuke argued.

"I'm fine," Naruto repeated, taking notice of how unconvincing he still sounded. "What's up? Why'd you call?" Naruto continued quickly, desperate for a change in subject.

"Oh, well, I just wanted to see if you wanted to meet up," Sasuke said almost calculatingly, keen to see if Naruto would abandon his strange tone or cling to it in even a change of subject.

"Yeah," Naruto said, sounding almost offended. "When have I ever _not_ wanted to meet up?"

"That's true," Sasuke agreed, smiling fondly at the statement.

This, at least, seemed to be a subject that Naruto could discuss freely. There was no trace of oddity in his voice any longer. It was very Naruto-like and Sasuke felt more relaxed at that but he also felt, undeniably, much more skeptical because of how much less questionable Naruto had just become. On one hand, his strange air of awkwardness wasn't strong enough to withstand a change in subject. On the other hand, that strange air of awkwardness was petty enough to abandon. What did that mean? Was any of this even worth so much brain power? Perhaps, Sasuke had simply caught Naruto at a bad time. Did that _have_ to mean that Naruto was screwing someone or doing something else that Sasuke would absolutely hate for him to be doing? Shit, for all Sasuke knew, he could have simply caught Naruto on the toilet. That would, certainly, make anyone stutter nervously. At this thought, Sasuke let loose an honest chuckle. Naruto smiled at the sound of Sasuke's laugh and began to rack his brain with different ways to recreate it.

"After how many years and I'm still not sick of your sour attitude," said Naruto playfully but Sasuke did not chuckle this time. "What?" Naruto questioned uncertainly into the looming silence.

"Nothing," Sasuke lied quietly.

Sasuke knew that Naruto understood him but he always felt uneasy when the blond said things like that. Sasuke always felt like Naruto would grow wiser one day and cozy up to someone with a personality much more like his own. Sasuke never feared the fate of their friendship, though. He knew that Naruto and himself would remain friends through anything. What he feared was that he would never make it past the friend zone or, at least, not with his 'sour attitude'. Cheery and bright just wasn't his forte. That was Naruto's thing and that was why Sasuke loved him so much. Could Sasuke really ever expect Naruto to actually adore his dismal attitude? It wasn't Sasuke's fault, though. He couldn't help that he was naturally unenthusiastic. Knowing that he couldn't change that part of him only served to make Sasuke feel even worse. Would Naruto ever truly be able to tolerate Sasuke enough to surpass friends and call Sasuke his lover? Sasuke thought that those chances were slim.

"You're fine, you know," Naruto reassured, sensing and pointedly interrupting Sasuke's fretful thoughts. "I like you just the way you are, sour attitude and all. I would be damn disappointed if you weren't so completely you, Sasuke." Naruto's words were light and, yet, still so deeply meaningful. Sasuke couldn't help the smile that spread across his lips.

"I, on the other hand, would be damn happy if _you_ _weren't_ so completely you," Sasuke joked.

"There we go," Naruto exclaimed satisfactorily. "Right back to yourself again! You know, talking all quiet and disheartened just isn't you, Sasuke. Nothing ever affects you."

"Not unless it comes to you," said Sasuke automatically, not even thinking about the implications it could have.

After all, Naruto had no idea how Sasuke felt about him. It's not as if he'd take those words in the way that Sasuke had actually meant them. He'd simply pawn it off as a reference to their friendship. Naruto, however, _did_ think about the implications, analyzing the statement thoroughly within a matter of seconds. What did that mean? What was Sasuke alluding to? Was he trying to say that he's overly conscious around Naruto? Why is that? Did that mean Sasuke was super concerned about what Naruto thought? If so, did that mean Sasuke liked Naruto, too? Naruto's mind was racing but he couldn't actually say any of these things, so he said the first thing that would come out of his mouth.

"Bar," Naruto blurted out loudly, clapping a hand over his mouth immediately after and feeling like a complete moron. Neji was staring at Naruto with a raised brow, as if judging his sanity.

"What?" Sasuke asked, suppressing laughter. Naruto seemed, suddenly, very passionate about bars.

"Um… I… bar…" Naruto repeated.

"Repeating the random word isn't going to make it any clearer for me," Sasuke pointed out sarcastically and continued to chuckle to himself.

"Um… bar…" Naruto said yet again and Sasuke was catching back on to that strange air of awkwardness. Before Sasuke could lose himself in analysis all over again, though, Naruto continued. "Let's meet at the bar," said Naruto decidedly. Neji, then, started making quick hand signals at Naruto who began trying to decipher them out loud. "Two way… big hat… fangs…?"

"What?" Sasuke asked. He found the strange words both highly amusing and highly disconcerting. Naruto was definitely talking to someone else. Who was it? What was he saying? Were they speaking in code? Sasuke's mind fell to racing madly again.

"I don't know," said Naruto into the phone conversationally, as if Sasuke was seeing what he was seeing and they were working together to figure it out casually. "What are you saying?" Naruto asked Neji plainly.

Naruto didn't even bother to move his lips away from the phone as he spoke to Neji, thus, successfully melding the two conversations into one, despite Neji's obvious attempt to do just the opposite. Neji rolled his eyes. He was trying to _avoid_ talking so as to avoid alerting Sasuke of his presence. Sasuke would, of course, know exactly what Neji was doing with Naruto and Neji didn't want to make their conversation any more awkward than it already was. Neji sighed. Apparently, he'd have to talk, though, because Naruto was, clearly, no good at charades.

"Gaara and I are meeting there in an hour for lunch, idiot," Neji explained. "Join us."

"Alright," said Sasuke at once after hearing Neji's voice float through the phone, as if eager to simply be done with the conversation. "Tell Neji I said hi. Bye!"

"Wh… I… Sasuke?" Naruto questioned before a loud dial tone rang in his ear. Naruto frowned. "He hung up."

"Yeah, well, he probably doesn't want to talk to you while I'm standing right here," Neji pointed out.

"Right," Naruto agreed, "cause you guys kissed."

"Wh… N-No!"That wasn't at all what Neji was getting at but he couldn't very well tell Naruto the truth. He couldn't say that Sasuke would feel weird because Neji was trying to get him and Naruto together and that Sasuke knew all about it, so Neji lied. "I mean… yeah… I guess."

"Well, let's go," Naruto exclaimed, showing no signs of the previous jealousy or contempt for Neji at the mention of Sasuke and kissing. Neji was relieved for that.

"Yeah," Neji agreed, "I guess we'll go together, then."

"We can take my car," Naruto suggested brightly.

It wasn't as if his conversation with Sasuke was a right success but Naruto seemed to be quite ignorant of that fact. He was in strangely high spirits. The boys, then, walked together from the park to Naruto's house. Neji had taken the bus to meet Naruto at the park, intending to catch the next one for his lunch with Gaara, but Naruto was opposed to public transportation. If he couldn't drive, he would walk. It was far too long a walk to make it on time, though, so they walked to Naruto's house to pick up his car.

* * *

Sasuke strolled into the familiar bar and glanced at his watch. It was still another few minutes before anyone else would show up but, being himself, Sasuke was always the first to arrive and hold the table. He looked around the bar for an empty table big enough for four and caught a glimpse of a head of red hair. He did a double take and was certain that he was looking at the back of Gaara's head. Sasuke found this particularly odd. Gaara, like Naruto, was hardly ever on time, let alone the first to arrive. Sasuke moved across the bar toward his friend.

"Gaara?" Sasuke questioned as he came up behind the redhead. Gaara looked shocked and, perhaps, even a bit nervous as Sasuke sat down across from him but these expressions were fleeting.

"Hey, Sasuke," said Gaara with a smile, banishing the nervousness from only moments before. "What are you doing here?"

"Neji didn't tell you, it seems," Sasuke deduced. "I guess he met up with Naruto earlier and then invited us to meet up with you guys," Sasuke informed, shrugging his shoulders as if it was nothing. In truth, it _was_ nothing. The four spent most of their time together. It wasn't often when they met up in separate pairs or spent more than a couple of days on their own. The fact that Neji invited Naruto and Sasuke out to their lunch was no big surprise. "I didn't expect you to be here waiting, though."

"Oh, well, I just thought I might pop in early. I was around," Gaara said, shrugging his shoulders in an attempt to appear casual and doing a very good job of it.

"Well," Sasuke began, "since I've got you here, I wanted to talk about something." Sasuke figured that now was as good of a time as ever to bring up the deal. Neji was, clearly, already acting out his part. Sasuke should start trying too.

"Oh," Gaara said skeptically, "you want to talk, do you?"

"I do," Sasuke affirmed. "It's about Neji, actually." Gaara nodded distractedly to prompt Sasuke to continue but he was now looking around the bar at the different people and paying little attention to his friend. Sasuke continued, nonetheless. "Well… about you and Neji and about… your feelings for Neji." Gaara turned his face quickly to Sasuke and raised one skeptical brow, offering his undivided attention. He hadn't been expecting this at all but now that it was happening, he was dreading it.

"What of them?" Gaara asked.

"You tell me," Sasuke said, leaning back in his chair in an attempt to seem nonchalant and doing just as good of a job as Gaara.

Sasuke wasn't in the habit of talking like this to his friends and Gaara knew that very well, so Sasuke knew that he would have to be good in his attempt to pawn this off as laid back, casual conversation or else he'd just have to be straight forward with Gaara. Sasuke wasn't sure which approach he was going to take quite yet, though. Gaara sighed and Sasuke found this curious. The sigh sounded tired, as if the subject had long ago been exhausted.

"I love Neji," Gaara said slowly and Sasuke perked up in his chair thinking about just how easy that task was, "but…" Gaara continued reluctantly, noticing Sasuke's change in attitude.

"But what?" said Sasuke quickly, eager to hear what he was up against.

"Well, because he's my best friend," Gaara said.

"Because he's your best friend… what?" Sasuke pressed.

"That's why I love him, because he's my best friend," Gaara repeated. Upon seeing Sasuke's face scrunch up with disappointment, Gaara heaved a sigh. "Let's not talk about this," he said decidedly, looking a bit worried.

If Gaara didn't want to talk about it, then it was because the subject made him uncomfortable. Very few things made Gaara uncomfortable and Sasuke knew none of them. So the question was raised, why did Gaara feel uncomfortable talking about Neji? Either Gaara really did love Neji or Gaara really didn't but, then, Gaara _did_ say that he loved Neji a little too softly. He _did_ seem to croon the words. They _did_ seem to roll off of his tongue, whereas his claim that it was simply because they were best friends came across much stiffer and forced. Gaara's obvious attempt to seem as if he did _not_ love Neji in the way that his tone of voice had suggested that he _did_ only further convinced Sasuke that Gaara was lying. With that worried look crossing his face, Sasuke was completely unconvinced. Sasuke would not drop the subject. Gaara was, clearly, unstable in his position. It was the perfect time to pounce and sway him in another direction and it only took Sasuke a moment to decide this.

"No," Sasuke refuted immediately, "let's talk about it."

"Then, be blunt with me, Sasuke," Gaara demanded instead of protesting as Sasuke had expected him to. "What are you getting at?" Sasuke smirked. He supposed he would be coming at this straight on, then. That was his specialty, after all. He wouldn't complain.

"I think you have feelings for Neji that you have yet to admit to," Sasuke said matter-of-factly. In truth, he wasn't exactly sure how Gaara felt but it was a good enough bluff to get Gaara to confess. Either that, or deny. A tiny smile played at Gaara's lips before disappearing completely.

"I think you're doing someone else's dirty work for him," Gaara said quietly. "If Neji wants answers, Neji can seek them himself."

"I'm just a friend trying to help a friend or two," Sasuke retorted. "Who says Neji even knows what I'm up to?" Gaara looked uncertain and then, suddenly, uncomfortable.

"I'm done with this," Gaara stated quickly. "I don't want to talk about it. I don't want you and Naruto here when Neji arrives, either," Gaara said bluntly. "Don't join our lunch. Go somewhere else."

Sasuke stared at the redhead for a long moment, trying to penetrate his mind. Gaara had thoroughly confused Sasuke now. One moment he was dismissive, the next he was practically swooning at the thought of Neji, then he was stiff as a board, the next he was defensive, and then he was completely brushing it all off. What did that mean? Gaara had never been one to hide anything. Yet, Gaara was demanding privacy. What for? Perhaps, Gaara was going to let Neji down and wanted to spare Neji the mortification of having it done in front of Naruto and Sasuke. Sasuke couldn't completely be sure of this, though, not after seeing that glint in Gaara's eye when he first said that he loved Neji. Of course, he had to add that whole 'just cause we're friends' bit which Sasuke was thoroughly unconvinced by. Eventually, Sasuke sighed unhappily.

Why Gaara refused to talk to Sasuke up front right now didn't really matter. He was going to bring it right to Neji, apparently, and he didn't want anyone else there to interrupt it. Sasuke would have to respect that. The softness that Gaara's voice had taken up before led Sasuke to believe that Neji wouldn't be let down today but the strange edge that Gaara's voice took now made Sasuke think the opposite. Sasuke was hoping to get down to the nitty-gritty before handing Gaara over to Neji. He wanted it to be easy for Neji. He wanted there to be no doubt at all when he was through with Gaara. It seemed, however, that Sasuke hadn't the time to do that. Neji would get whatever Gaara was going to give him now and all Sasuke could do was allow them a bit of privacy when it happened.

"Fine," Sasuke agreed begrudgingly, wishing he could be more certain of Gaara's stance. "We'll go."

Just as Gaara's face fell to relief, a hand rested upon his shoulder and a plain wave of anxiety overtook his features. He was unwilling to break Sasuke's gaze, unintentionally allowing Sasuke to see just how much that hand on his shoulder unnerved him. Sasuke found Gaara's reaction peculiar. It wasn't the look you dawn at a stranger taking you off guard. It was the shock you display when you've been caught with something you know you shouldn't have. What really shocked Sasuke, though, was what the person connected to that hand decided to do next. The person leaned down and kissed Gaara on the cheek. It was no friendly buddy-buddy kiss, either. It was affectionate, denoting a very obvious connection between the two. It wasn't the kind of uncertain, unrehearsed kiss that you give someone you've only just started seeing. It was the kind of comfortable, every day kiss that you give your spouse of thirteen years. It was a kiss that had, clearly, been given many times before. Sasuke stared from the frozen face of Gaara to the culprit of the kiss, wide eyed. He could not believe what he was seeing. Gaara's expression only further confirmed that the relationship between himself and this alleged kisser was one that Sasuke wouldn't approve of at all.

"Hey, baby," the culprit said smoothly and Gaara tried to swallow the giant lump in his throat. He forced a smile to surface and touched the hand resting on his shoulder briefly before retracting it uncertainly. Sasuke's eyes were darting between the pair for a long, awkward moment before Gaara spoke.

"This is Sasuke," Gaara said slowly to the stranger who smiled down at Sasuke and offered a hand to shake. Sasuke only stared at it blankly. "Sasuke," Gaara continued weakly, "this is Sakura. My… uh… uh…" Sasuke shifted his eyes from the girl's hand to Gaara's face and Gaara stopped talking abruptly. He found that he was, suddenly, unable to say the word. Fortunately, Sakura was there to finish the job and make the uncomfortable moment that she was, clearly, ignorant of even more unbearable.

"Fiancé," Sakura finished cheerily. "I'm his _fiancé_."

Sakura wagged her hand expectantly in front of Sasuke's face to urge him to shake it and the ring on her finger glinted in the light. Sasuke looked at Sakura and, then, pushed her hand away dismissively. She looked genuinely taken aback as she drew her hand right up to her chest and stumbled backward a step, as if Sasuke had just shoved her. Sasuke hadn't been entirely sure that Gaara would confess his love for Neji but Sasuke _had _been sure that Gaara could, at least, have been swayed to do so. After as close of a friendship that they had, it wasn't hard to fall for each other as Sasuke knew so well. That was what Sasuke thought, at least. Sasuke never would have guessed that Gaara's desire for privacy with Neji was for _this_. Gaara was, apparently, going to introduce Neji to his fiancé who was a fucking girl. Sasuke was, clearly, very wrong about a lot of things. Gaara was not going to address his feelings. He was simply going to crush Neji's in one swift blow via the secret fiancé tactic. Sasuke was, suddenly, very angry with Gaara. He was just about to open his mouth and express that anger when he saw a familiar blond head of hair bounding toward them and thought that Neji was sure to follow.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Sasuke questioned hastily in a whisper while he leaned over the table, trying to understand the situation before Naruto and Neji reached them.

"What do you think I wanted privacy for?" Gaara answered just as quickly, leaning over to meet Sasuke.

"I didn't… I… I don't…" Sasuke began to stammer unproductively. "You're gay!"

"It's complicated," Gaara responded, "and you know I'm not _gay_."

"Do you not know about Neji's feelings?" Sasuke asked confusedly. "You seemed aware, I thought."

"I've always known," Gaara confirmed.

"What?" Sasuke exclaimed in a loud whisper. "You've known and instead of talking about it, you're gonna ambush him with that chick? Gaara, I'm confused!"

"That's why I wanted to break this to him in private, Sasuke! I'm not trying to humiliate him, so just take Naruto and go!" Gaara snapped.

Sasuke couldn't begin to understand why Gaara had a secret fiancé who was a fucking girl but, even more, why Gaara had decided to break it to Neji like this without even discussing Neji's feelings that he, apparently, knew very well of. Sasuke was about to express his seething anger in the form of curses and insults but found that he didn't have enough time.

"Hey," Naruto's voice rang out cheerfully. Both Sasuke and Gaara snapped upright in their seats. Sasuke was glaring disapprovingly at Gaara and Gaara was glaring threateningly back at Sasuke. "What's up?" Naruto continued warily, noticing the tension in the air and very unaware of Sakura. Neji was smiling affectionately at Gaara who was pointedly avoiding his eyes. Sasuke was now glaring coldly at Sakura who was staring confusedly at everyone else in turns. After a long moment of silence, Sasuke stood.

"Let's go, Naruto," he said angrily, still glaring at Sakura who had now settled her eyes on Sasuke in return.

Contrary to Sasuke's stare, though, Sakura's eyes were full of uncertainty and fear. She was both confused by Sasuke's interaction with Gaara and afraid of Sasuke in general as Sasuke was rather intimidating, especially with such a terrifying scowl on his face. Sasuke's lip curled up into a momentary snarl before he grabbed Naruto's wrist roughly to lead him away. Sasuke hesitated momentarily beside Neji to touch his arm sympathetically before dragging a protesting Naruto out of the bar. Neji stared after Sasuke in confusion before turning to look at Gaara.

"What was that about?" Neji asked. Gaara sighed heavily and, finally, looked at Neji with sad eyes.

"Sit down," Gaara said but before Neji could take the seat beside Gaara, Sakura was moving quickly into place there.

Neji stared incredulously at the pink-haired girl for a moment before taking the seat that Sasuke had just vacated and looking desperately to Gaara for answers. Sakura turned equally expectant eyes on Gaara as well. Neji was sensing the hesitancy and guilt radiate from his friend and he instinctively reached a hand across the table to take Gaara's. Gaara did not draw back from his friend nor make any form acknowledgement when Sakura's eyes snapped sharply to the point of contact. Sakura looked absolutely appalled but waited a moment, as if expecting Gaara to respond. Gaara was busy, however, returning Neji's intense gaze and Sakura felt even further offended.

Unsure of how else to react, Sakura thought it best to simply lay claim to Gaara, although, the giant ring on her finger should have been claim enough, she thought. She leaned in close to the redhead and snaked her hand up Gaara's neck into his red hair while whispering his name quietly into his ear. All the while, Sakura kept her eyes trained on Neji, daring him to defy her. Gaara instantly blushed and Neji's eyes widened at the sight. He stared for a long moment in shock but after another rather short moment of contemplation, Neji removed his hand from Gaara's. He stole a glance at Sakura who was smiling smugly at him before standing from the table.

"I think it's clear," Neji said quietly as his morose eyes stared down at Gaara.

"Yes, I think so," Sakura agreed coolly and, yet, triumphantly.

Neji didn't even turn to regard Sakura. His eyes were transfixed on Gaara. Gaara, on the other hand, turned sharply to Sakura and pushed her away to create a more comfortable space between their bodies. Sakura looked absolutely insulted by the gesture and began snapping quietly at the boy. Gaara whispered some hushed words to Sakura who began to protest wildly but gave up when Gaara turned away from her. Eventually, she huffed and crossed her arms angrily in defeat.

"Look—" Gaara began quietly, his eyes apologetic.

"No," Neji interrupted immediately, "please spare me the bullshit."

Neji turned his face away from Gaara to stare at the ground, fighting down his tears. The statement was meant to be stern and confident but it came out meek. Neji cared very little for how his words came out right now, though. He was warring desperately with the ache in his chest. He couldn't believe what he was seeing and, yet, it was so absolutely unquestionable. It took all the strength he could muster to keep from bursting out into tears right then. After so many years of friendship with Gaara and he didn't see this coming at all. He would never have seen Gaara with a women. He would never have thought his feelings to be _this_ unrequited. Perhaps, Neji thought, he didn't actually know his best friend at all. At least, not after this.

"Neji—" Gaara began again quickly, standing from his chair and reaching his arm across the table. Neji moved swiftly out of reach and shook his head.

"I get it," Neji said softly. "I think I always have but I've just been too pathetically hopeful to admit it." Gaara let out a pained whimper, as if Neji's words were a knife to the chest.

"Neji, I…" Gaara began but when Neji turned his watering eyes to Gaara, Gaara's words caught in his throat and trailed off.

He found it painfully impossible to say anything that he truly wanted to say. What pained Gaara the most was that Neji had no clue what all of this was truly about. As Gaara stared into Neji's eyes, eyes still so full of hope and plight, he reminded himself what this was all for. He reckoned that he had been a mere moment away from pushing Sakura out of the way and wrapping Neji up in his arms but he warded those thoughts away and, instead, placed his hand upon Sakura's shoulder. Neji's eyes flickered to the movement and back up to Gaara's eyes, now completely void of hope and filling with despair. Gaara felt a sharp pain in his chest but pressed on, nonetheless.

"I'm sorry," Gaara said half-heartedly. Upon hearing the words slip weakly from his lips, he forced himself to speak more firmly. "This is just how it is." Gaara fought to keep his face and his voice from breaking, for he knew that the next words would be painful. "I am sorry if our friendship comes to end over this but I can't see how it won't."

Neji stood there for another long moment, staring at Gaara in disbelief. Not only had Gaara just cornered him with a girlfriend and made his lack of reciprocation quite clear but now he was suggesting that they simply end their friendship. Neji _had_ been pretending that he didn't have these feelings for years and their friendship had gotten along just fine but he supposed that Gaara had some point. Now that Gaara was seriously dating and not just fucking whatever came into sight, Neji wasn't sure he could even handle that. Perhaps, this was just the end, then. The thought made Neji want to vomit. Finally, Gaara broke the eye contact, partly to make his message clear but mostly to keep himself from revealing too much of the torrential emotions reeling inside of him. Neji's breath hitched but, in a moment, he was gone.

"Are you going to tell me what's going on?" Sakura asked hotly, her tolerance completely depleted.

Gaara fought the urge to sneer at her. She was jumping at him with no regard of what he'd just done. Had she no clue that he'd just banished his best friend? Had she no clue that he'd just dismissed his love? Had she no idea just how much emotional pain Gaara was fighting right now? No, of course she didn't. Gaara knew that she didn't. She had simply just witnessed a very strange display between her fiancé and who she knew to be a stranger, a stranger that Gaara had seemed _far_ too friendly with and she was burning for answers now.

"Yes," Gaara said quietly, composing himself, "I will explain."

If this was going to go as planned, as it must, Gaara would need to turn to Sakura with no trace of doubt in his eyes. He needed to turn to her and embrace her as his soon-to-be wife. He could not be thinking of Neji. He could be thinking of nothing but Sakura. He simply had to push past this stint and move forward. He, of course, wouldn't give Sakura all of the information, though. He admittedly wouldn't believe it wholeheartedly but Gaara would look Sakura in the eyes and tell her that Neji was nothing but an old friend with an infatuation for Gaara. He drug in a deep breath, let it out in a puff, and then began to explain himself.


	6. Chapter 6: What I Wouldn't Do

**A/N:** From Gaara's point of view. That much is obvious, though. This story is going on a hiatus _unless_ I get any direct oppositions. I'm going to put it on the back burner. If you don't want me to, let me know and I'll keep it going. As long as there is one reader who wants to keep seeing updates, I'll do what I can to make sure they get them. A lot of stuff is going on, though, and my hands are full. I'm just weeding out the important things, so if this is important to you, let me know so I don't leave you hangin'.

**EDIT:** This story is coming to a close. There are only a couple more chapter of TFT and I'll be posting them shortly.

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**Chapter Six: What I Wouldn't Do**

I have known Neji for my entire life. We grew up together because our fathers were childhood friends and they even work closely together at Kazekage Inc. My father is the CEO of the company and Hizashi is the VP, thanks to his close friendship with father. The company is pretty well-known but, thankfully, it's not as giant as Uchiha Corp, at least, not yet. Sasuke has fiddled with the public eye a whole lot more than I ever had to, not that I would have ever really minded. At least, that's what everyone thinks I should say based on what they've seen of me. I should say that the attention really wouldn't bother me, in fact, I'd like it. I should add that it would have put a big strain on my friendship with Neji, though, because Neji is shy and subdued. All that media attention would have driven him mad. Even though he got as much publicity as I ever did (well, maybe I got more, seeing as I'm the CEO's son whereas Neji is the VP's), he never got used to it.

That bit about Neji is true but that bit about me, it's not even close. I hate attention. I hate the feel of eyes all over me but I've learned to deal with it and embrace it or, at least, pretend to embrace it. I know what you're thinking. Why garner so much attention willingly all over university if you really hate it? I do it because it allows me to pretend that I'm someone else. The real Gaara would never be so flirty and free, using his father's status as a means to chase tail. However, the real Gaara has long been lost. I cannot be me. Therefore, I use must be someone else. I use this facade to escape the life that I've been condemned to.

Either way, attention whore or not, Neji and I have stuck together since day one. That's why he's so important to me. He has always offset me perfectly. He has always seen the real reason why I do certain things that I do and he has always tried to counterbalance me. Thanks to my mother, I was forced into this facade but Neji always saw beneath. He always understood me. Of course, he has no idea that the reasons have changed. He has no clue that this is no longer about my mother and that it is now about a certain pink-haired lady. All Neji sees is that the parade goes on. I am my loud, obtrusive self who has to make a mark wherever I go. He does not see what propels me anymore, for he just assumes it is my mother. He is, of course, wrong about that and _that_ is something he has only just found out, though, not in full detail.

You know that, though. He just got up and left without letting me explain, not that I really could have explained with Sakura sitting right there beside me. I really do love Neji, though. My life would have been a hell of a lot more difficult without him. Unfortunately, my life is now a hell of a lot more difficult _with_ him but he doesn't know that and it, certainly, isn't his fault. He was always there for me like he should have been and I'm thankful for that. It's only now that I wish we had never met and _that_ is all my mother's fault.

This all started two years ago during our freshman year when I met Sakura, my soon-to-be wife. I don't love her, you can bet on that but her father could either save or take all of our lives. Nobody knows this, but Kazekage Inc has been in a bad spot for a while now. My mother was involved with the wrong crowd for a good portion of her life with my father. I guess that's really where it all begins. Father was overworking himself and mother was lonely, so she found some "friends" and ended up in touch with some pretty ruthless people. She took out more than a few loans for her own reckless pastimes in father's name, saying that he was the CEO of a big company and that he'd have no problem paying her dues. Of course, she never actually meant to inform father or have the debts paid. I suppose she never thought too well on that fact. It seems, she was more interested in the things that her loans were providing her with. Mother just kept piling on debt and never told father, for fear that he wouldn't forgive her if he knew what she was doing behind his back. I'm not talking about innocent loans to buy clothes or a car, either.

Mother had always been a gamble, I've heard. She had a rough childhood but she seemed to change after meeting father. Apparently, when father's business blew up and he rose straight to the top, all of his responsibilities left her feeling abandoned and she fell into some old, bad habits, despite the fact that she had a son to take care of. Not only me, either, but another son and a daughter, too. She left us in the care of nannies and maids, expecting we'd never know the difference. Of course we did, though. In any case, mother was a little off of her rocker and she thought that her new "friends" were only helping her. One day, though, the boss, Kizashi, got fed up with mother's lack of payback. When he brought up that he had been too lenient for too long, mother begged him to let her off of the hook. She was afraid that father would leave her if he ever found about her debts. She refused to ask him for the money and her "friends" didn't take well to that. They took her hostage and demanded that father pay them back. When he was faced with the bill of years of mother's illicit activity, though, he found that he couldn't quite pay the sum. In a fit of rage, Kizashi killed mother. I don't think that it affected father much. After learning about the life she was leading behind his back, I expect he loved her much less. It hurt a bit, though, I'm sure.

Although we were her children, my brother, sister, and I were able to move on easily. She was no mother to us. What we saw of her were things children should never see. I can't tell you how many times I saw her drunk or high or with another man. I hate to admit it, but I was a bit glad when she was out of the picture. It meant that she couldn't hurt father or me anymore. Unfortunately, though, I learned very quickly that I was just as disposable to father, too. These mobsters that mother was dealing with decided that they would spare father and his children slow and painful deaths, mostly because we were so high up in the media eye that it would be hard to murder us and get away with it. When you murder someone as well known as father, you can bet that they'll work double time to find you. In any case, they left us our lives if and only if father continued to pay them a set amount of money per month and provided them with whatever favors they asked for until they decided that his debt was complete. With no choice, father agreed.

Unfortunately, though, the company started to wobble a bit. A rival company started jumping ahead of us in the game and Kazekage Inc's stability was compromised. In order to keep the company running, father could not afford to keep paying Kizashi. That was not an option, though, so both father and Hizashi took a giant pay cut. As a repercussion, we were forced into simpler living. He made some speech to the media about trying to remain humble and they ate it up like fiends. That explains my minimalistic apartment and Neji's dorm living here at university. We should be living like Sasuke in the nicest apartments in town but we're not and that's all because of my mother. It turned out that the pay cuts still weren't cutting it, though. Kizashi decided that he would make one last trade off and, should it work out properly, father would not have to pay any longer. The deal was that his daughter be made the happiest little girl on earth. That daughter, of course, was Sakura. She, certainly, has never had any clue what kind of business her father is in. She thinks that our fathers are business partners and that it was just her good fortune that I happened to be around her age and eager to befriend her. She, of course, had to go and decide that she wanted to date me and I, of course, only played along to make her happy. Making Sakura upset would likely cost my father his company, as if I care for that, but many important lives as well.

Neji has never known of the company's misfortune. He ate that shit about remaining humble up just as easily as the rest of the world. Sometimes, he can be naive like that. Though, how was he supposed to know what was really going on? He wasn't around to witness mother's actions. I just happened to be the unfortunate child to be aware of our sticky predicament. Sakura's joy is the only thing keeping us all alive. Disappoint her and I'll disappoint her father who will, in return, probably just kill us all. So, you see, I can never love Sakura but I have to pretend that I do, nonetheless. I would like to think that father had no choice in the matter but I know that is not true. He could have chosen Kankuro—which, honestly, wouldn't have been any better—or he could have chosen to placate Sakura in some other way but, instead, he chose to offer up his own son as a sacrifice. He pawned the responsibility off on me. My cooperation _will_ save many lives but I know that is not how father sees it or has ever seen it. Every time I look into his eyes, I can see the selfish bastard's truest, innermost desires. He wants to live. He wants his company. He's as much of an attention whore as I ever was or, rather, pretended to be. He loves his life and he wants his paycheck back. He wants to rise to the platform of Uchiha Corp. He wants to be rich and famous. If he loses his wife and his children along the way, so be it. I think he truly cares for Hizashi, though. In fact, he cares for Hizashi much more than he cares for me or Kankuro or Temari. I doubt he cares for Neji, either, though. He may care for Hizashi, his best friend, but I think that my father would sell even him out for his own safety.

Hizashi has kept this quiet to Neji. Both Hizashi and my father have, of course, kept this quiet to everyone else too. Only three people tied to the company know of its predicament and that is my father, Hizashi, and I. My siblings know but they've made it a point to have nothing to do with father or his company, not after the way he offered me up on a silver platter, not after how sickeningly like mother he has become. I would also have nothing to do with the company had I not had the responsibility of Sakura forced upon me. I, unlike my father, _do_ care for the lives at stake here. I care not for his stupid company or the standing of my last name. I care for my brother, my sister, Hizashi, and most of all, my best friend. If I must live this life with Sakura to ensure their safety and happiness, then I will live it.

Making Sakura happy seemed pretty easy, at first. I kept her away from my friends purposely because I knew that she'd never fit in and I was, honestly, afraid that she'd make me ditch them simply because she didn't like them. Not to mention, I had no desire for her to meet my most precious people, lest they become more of her father's targets, should I fail. She decided that friendship was too simple and, then, she wanted to date me. I could only _pretend_ to date her, though. That was just another reason to keep her from my friends. They would, surely, see right through my act and, perhaps, be stupid enough to call me out on it before her. The stakes had risen. Keeping Sakura happy was harder. I simply couldn't risk her meeting my friends, should they accidentally say something stupid and get themselves killed. Not to mention, keeping my university life separate from her was important to me. I needed somewhere to go where neither Sakura nor her father could interfere. I could only hope that she would tire of me as all rich bitches so easily tire of their boy toys. I tried to be as unappealing as possible but without being rude. I had to seem like I was trying to please her but subtly do whatever it took to displease her enough to force her to leave me. Unfortunately, though, she decided that she wanted to marry me. That's when things got really rough.

Only a couple of weeks ago, she expressed this desire to me. Her father said that he would consider mother's debt repaid on the day of our wedding. We would be completely free. He even went so far as to tell me in private that, should I ever decide to do so, I would have to find a damn good way to leave his daughter happy when I parted from her or else he'd murder everyone that I loved right in front of me before forcing me to suffer a terrible death myself. As terrifying as that sounded to me, it was proof that there was a loophole. I could leave Sakura if I wanted; I just had to leave her happy _after_ the marriage. I was _sure_ that she would tire of me but she never did and I couldn't very well ditch her, so my new plan was to force _her_ to ditch _me_. Then, we would all be free of mother's debt. Then, maybe I could explain everything to Neji and he would understand.

I found, though, that Sakura is rather invested in me. Ever being rid of her seems more and more impossible every day. I've been forced to face the fact that I may have to live this life until its end. I may never stop repaying my mother's debt. I may never leave Sakura. I may be forced to pretend that I love her for the rest of my life in order to protect those that I love. I've pretty much given up on scheming and now I've just been trying to figure out _how_ to break the news to my friends, instead. I've been spending less time with them and more time with Sakura, seeing as she's expecting to be my wife and I'm expected to keep her satisfied. The engagement isn't public yet but when it is, it'll go viral. Neji would know in a second. It's scheduled to go out tomorrow, actually, and the wedding will be in a month. That's why I chose today to tell Neji. There would never be a right time but hearing it over the news would be devastating. What kind of a person would I be if I did that to him?

So, here we are. I have no choice but to marry Sakura. The fates of so many precious lives depend on it: my father (as much of an undeserving bastard as he is), Hizashi, Neji, Temari, Kankuro, even Naruto and Sasuke, maybe even a few other flippant acquaintances that I've made here at university. I have no idea who Kizashi considers important enough to die as punishment to me.

I've always known how Neji has felt about me and I had decided that going away to university would be what prompted me to confess my own feelings to him. That way, we would be out of the judging eyes of our fathers and we could be what we wanted to be without hearing all kinds of shit about public images and whatnot. As long as we were finally adults, they could kiss my ass. Of course, I got stuck with Sakura. I think father saw Neji and I coming and was actually glad to offer me up in order to keep Neji and myself from being together. Hizashi has always been an accepting man. He is nothing like father. I am sure he would support Neji and I fully, however, he would struggle with the company's image, too. Though he would try not to be inconsiderate, he would inevitably remind us of that image every day. Father, on the other hand, would simply forbid it. Luckily for him, Sakura's father beat him to the punch. Father was given a pretty, pink-haired godsend to occupy my time and keep me from Neji and defacing his company, the company he was quick to sacrifice his own son to save. I wish that things were different, but they're not. There's nothing that I can do. There is only one loophole and it seems damn impossible to reach. My entire life has been taken from me.

It has been a couple of years since I was introduced to Sakura and it has been easy for me to go out with my friends behind her back and lead the life I've been leading because she was never living in the city with me. I was allowed, at least, to lead my university life out of the imploring eyes of her father. That made it easy to be the iconic slut that people see me as. I've kept out of the media, too. I don't know _what_ they're so focused on but they have bothered neither Sasuke nor myself for the past couple of years, making it easy for Sakura to be clueless as to what I do at university. I suspect is has something to do with us getting older. As long as we don't cause any big scandals for them to eat up, the media doesn't care about us anymore. When Sakura decided that she wanted to get married, though, I was forced to face the music.

I can no longer live this university life which—as Neji knew—was only ever a ruse to patch up the hurt that my mother caused me, the life which—as Neji _didn't_ know—had evolved from a ruse to escape my mother into a ruse to escape my inescapable life with Sakura. The stakes have risen even more now, though. This university life can no longer save me from the difficulties of my real life, for Sakura is now to _become_ my real life. I've had a couple of weeks to get used to the idea of losing my life and I think that I have been about a billion times more reckless in these past couple of weeks than I've ever been, too. A few times, I even almost confessed to Neji. I almost just slept with him but I'm glad that I didn't. It would have been hell for both of us if we did. Now, Sakura is in town and she isn't leaving. She's moving in to my apartment and even my university life is being taken away. I can no longer be friends with Neji. I fear even remaining friends with Sasuke and Naruto to be too dangerous but I know that they're already on Kizashi's radar. Forgoing our friendships at a time when I'll truly need friends would only be stupid. That is, of course, considering Sasuke doesn't already hate me.

I'm not sure if Sasuke's hatred is because Neji is his friend or if it goes deeper than that but hatred is hatred. He may never forgive me and he doesn't even know _why_ I have to do this. He doesn't understand but I'll be forgiving _because_ he doesn't understand. If Sasuke hates me, I will not hate him back, for he has every reason to hate me after what I've done to Neji. Naruto has a right to hate me, too. I only hope that he doesn't because everything is going to change once Sakura and I are officially married and I'll need _someone_. I don't know if I'm strong enough to do this alone but I have no choice but _to do_ this. Sure, Sasuke, Naruto, and Neji will all be lifted of a weight that they never even knew existed; my brother, sister, and Hizashi will all be free to live without fear; my father will have his precious company and his pathetic life back; but, all the while, my weight will have doubled. I will be suffering more than ever before but I will take it with a smile and forgive everyone for living their newly freed lives because if I don't, they could all die. Their freedom will come at the cost of my cage. However, if I had never agreed to this cage, we _all_ would have died. At least, this way they're safe. I know that the only way they won't be is if _I_ fail and I know that _I_ will never fail them because I love them all too much.

In any case, I would hate it if Neji and Sasuke really _did_ have sex but if Neji knew how I truly felt now, he'd be devastated. He'd never let it go and I can't have that. He _has_ to move on and if that means being with Sasuke, then I'll do whatever I can to make that happen. I know that won't make Naruto happy. As much as he tries to ignore it, he is in love with Sasuke. Neji is more important to me, though. I need Neji to be alright. I need him to find love again. I'll be sorry if Naruto suffers over it but no one could possibly be suffering more than I, so Naruto will just have to move on too. If I have to spend every day watching Neji sulk, I'll kill myself. I can't have Neji wanting me while I'm forced upon Sakura and pretending that it _isn't_ force but actual love, as much of a lie as that is. Not only will it be heart-wrenching but it will complicate things if Neji holds on. The risk of Sakura seeing my connection with Neji is too great. She cannot know about Neji or else she'll blow the whistle to her father and I'll have killed everyone. No, Neji cannot know and I cannot let him dwell on me for too long. He needs to move on and the quickest way for that to happen is to cut all ties with him.

I'm not entirely sure that Sasuke and Neji will really be an item, though. Sasuke _is_ pretty crazy about Naruto. It's really just a hope, to be honest. I'm just hoping that Sasuke and Neji will have slept together. I'm just hoping that encounter sparked emotions between them. I'm just hoping that it will make Sasuke forget about Naruto and obsess over my perfect Neji. As much as _I_ want to obsess over him, I can't, so Sasuke will have to do it for me. Of course, it's still too early to tell, but it looks like it really was nothing, though. Sasuke and Neji don't seem to have made any romantic ground and I don't think that will change in time, either. If anything, Naruto and Sasuke are just mere days away from confessing to each other and then Neji will be left alone, thinking about how he can never have me. Then, _I_ will be left thinking about how all I'll ever have is Sakura and I _do not_ want her. I want things to change. I want my mother to come back and atone for _her_ sins. It's _her_ life choices that have put us all in this position, even if _I'm_ the only one who even knows we're all in a position to begin with. I want my life back. I want Neji.

I would give anything to be wrapped up in Neji's arms, to be loving him. I would give anything to wipe that frown from his face and kiss him. I've never had the pleasure of kissing Neji before and now I never will. I'll be thinking about it every time I kiss Sakura and it'll just make it more painful because it'll just remind me that I'll _never_ get kiss him. I'll have to have sex with Sakura and I'll have to have babies with her and every day, I'll be missing Neji. Our friendship is over. It has to be. Our fathers won't question it, either. Of course, both of our father's know of this arrangement and they'll understand _why_ I have broken off our friendship. Hizashi is well aware that I'm being forced into marriage. Though I painted him as an accepting man before, do not think that he won't be relieved that his company's image will be saved. Well, at least, it's saved for now.

Neither of our fathers could ever pretend that they haven't seen what has transpired between Neji and I over time, so they'll secretly rejoice that no one will see us together. We will not tarnish the image of their precious company. Perhaps, as long as Neji's sexuality doesn't cause too much ruckus (much unlike the ruckus that the CEO and VP's sons getting together would cause), then maybe Neji will even be allowed to be openly gay, as long as it isn't with me. Although, I predict that Hizashi will eventually try to force Neji himself into a marriage, in hopes that the gayness extended only to me and that it will pass. I hate to admit it but even that would be better than Neji never getting over me. I would even see Neji forced into marriage like I am if it meant that he would move on. In truth, moving on only makes him safer. Dwelling is risky and risky things involving me could mean everyone losing their lives.

So here I am, doomed to a life of misery and regret. If only I had been less of a whimp, then Neji and I could have had _some_ time together before Sakura popped up. If I hadn't waited til college, we could have been together. If I hadn't been so afraid of our fathers' opinions, Neji would know that I loved him but would that really be okay? Would it really be better if Neji _did_ know? If he did, then that would make this pill even harder to swallow. No, I think it _is_ best that Neji never had me. It would make it too hard for us to part and if Sakura ever caught wind of it, we might end up in a lot of trouble for it. Even though, emotionally, I wish that Neji and I had spent some time together as a couple, I know that, logically, this is the best way for things to be. I may have to spend the rest of my life fantasizing about things that _could_ have been instead of pulling from personal experience, but that's a small price to pay to protect the ones that I love, to protect Neji.

I can only hope that Neji will not simply survive like me. I can only hope that Neji will _live_, that he will _thrive_. I can only hope that he will be happy.

So, here and now, I tell Sakura lies. Neji was my friend of many years. We have grown close. We have never been involved. All of this is very true but no, I have never had feelings for him as that gaze that I was just giving him suggested. No, I do not _love_ him. Yes, I would choose you over him any day of the week. Yes, I will stop being his friend. No, I had no idea that he was looking at me like that. Sorry, I certainly did not intend for that to look so intimate. No, I do not like boys. Yes, Sakura, I only have eyes for you. I bite my tongue and fight the urge to scream for Neji to come back and kiss me. Yes, Sakura, let's go home. And once I walk out of this bar, I will walk away from every last trace of Neji and, though I will want to, I'll never cry. No, I'm responsible for too many lives...

But, dear god, what I wouldn't give to have Neji...


	7. Chapter 7: I Love You

**Warning:** There is a hardly detailed boyxboy kiss in here. There is also a very sad Neji :(

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**Chapter Seven: I Love You  
Sunday Afternoon**

"Where are we going?" Naruto demanded. Sasuke simply pulled the blond along behind him even faster and Naruto grunted at the change in speed. He'd be able to keep up a lot better if Sasuke would just stop dragging him. Sasuke left a long pause of silence and Naruto thought that Sasuke wasn't going to answer.

"Away," Sasuke said finally.

"But _where_?" Naruto repeated.

"I don't know," Sasuke said hotly. "Away!"

"Why?" Naruto demanded. "And stop dragging me!"

Sasuke stopped dragging Naruto only to start pacing in front of him. He had dragged Naruto a fair distance away from the bar and Naruto knew that there would be a park down the block and just around the next corner. He grabbed Sasuke's arm to stop his pacing and Sasuke looked up at him angrily.

"What?" Sasuke demanded and Naruto nudged his head in the direction of the park.

"Let's go sit down," Naruto offered and Sasuke nodded faintly, not really caring either way. The pair walked down the block and rounded the corner in silence. Sasuke's face was scrunched up in angry contemplation and Naruto just watched him in confusion, trying to figure out just what his problem was. Naruto sat down at the closest bench but Sasuke resumed his pacing in front of the blond again. "What's up?" Naruto asked.

"Neji," Sasuke said simply.

"What about him?" Naruto asked. Sasuke began pacing faster and simply repeated himself more emphatically, as if that should have been enough for Naruto to understand.

"_Neji_," Sasuke said meaningfully.

"What are you getting at?" Naruto asked impatiently, not liking this feeling of ignorance.

"What about Neji?" Sasuke asked crossly, as if speaking to someone else completely. Naruto could tell that things he wasn't clued in on were going through Sasuke's brain. He was having a conversation with himself or someone else not present and that rather irritated the blond, considering he was very present and eager to understand. Why the fuck was Sasuke so worked up about Neji? Naruto found Sasuke's interest in Neji rather annoying, so he snorted angrily. Sasuke seemed to miss this, though.

"Yeah, _what about_ Neji?" Naruto repeated. "Why are you _so_ interested in Neji?"

"Because he's my friend," Sasuke said, waving a dismissive hand to express that Naruto's opinion was uninvited. In retrospect, Sasuke would admit that the gesture was rude and inconsiderate but he couldn't help but do it at the time. He was trying to grasp the situation at hand and Naruto's persistent attempts at understanding were simply annoying. The gesture, however, only served to further anger Naruto. What, Sasuke was too busy thinking about fucking _Neji_ to even pay attention to Naruto anymore? Naruto snorted loudly at the word friend and Sasuke noticed this time. Sasuke looked at Naruto imploringly, questioning his snort but still pacing. Naruto didn't say anything, though, so Sasuke went on. "He'll be devastated," Sasuke added. Naruto's blood was boiling. Why was Sasuke _still_ talking about fucking Neji?

"Well, he'll get over it," Naruto said, sounding bored and uninterested. "He's a big boy."

"He won't get over it!" Sasuke argued sharply.

"Over what?" Naruto asked. "I don't even know what the fuck we're talking about!"

"So why are you being such a dick about it, then?" Sasuke retorted, still pacing and looking back down at the ground.

"Because you won't stop talking about _Neji_," Naruto said angrily.

"I'm _worried_ about him," Sasuke replied.

"I can _tell_," Naruto said crossly. "What the fuck for?" Naruto muttered to himself, not expecting Sasuke to hear but Sasuke did hear and answered, nonetheless.

"Because he's my _friend_!" Sasuke said impatiently and Naruto snorted again. The sound made Sasuke wrinkle his nose in dismay and he went on to chastise the blond. "Frankly, I'm shocked that _you're_ not worried about him."

"What about _Neji_ should I be _so_ worried about?" Naruto asked coldly. He found the whole statement ironic. Neji was stealing Naruto's man. _That's_ what Naruto should be worried about. That thought only made Naruto angrier and he found himself leveling Sasuke with a glare up to par with even the Uchiha's practiced scowl. It had no effect, though. Sasuke wasn't easily effected by his own tactics.

"What about… Are you _serious_?" Sasuke asked, stopping his pacing and planting himself in front of Naruto.

"Yes," Naruto said plainly, "I'm serious."

"That chick!" Sasuke exclaimed, as if that was all the information Naruto should need.

"Yeah?"

"And Gaara!" Sasuke added impatiently, expecting Naruto to catch on at any moment.

"So?"

"_So?_ So they're engaged!" Sasuke said loudly and began pacing again.

"And?"

Sure, Gaara being engaged was a bit odd. He was too aloof for that kind of commitment and Naruto always thought that Gaara leaned more towards the gay side. If Gaara was going to get engaged to anyone, Naruto would have guessed it would be a man. News that Gaara was engaged to that pink-haired chick was kind of weird. At the same time, though, she was really hot, too. That could explain everything. Gaara liked attractive people. Plain and simple. Naruto couldn't see how this had anything to do with Neji, though, and why Sasuke was so upset about it. If anything, his lack of understanding and Sasuke's lack of explanation were just making Naruto angrier and angrier. If Sasuke would just sit down for a fucking second and explain, Naruto might want to punch him a lot less right now.

"And Neji!" Sasuke shouted in response, plucking Naruto from his thoughts.

"_What about Neji_?" Naruto shouted back, his patience thinning dangerously low. If he heard Neji's name one more time, he might just kill Sasuke.

"He's in love with Gaara!" Sasuke said with exasperation. He had no patience left for Naruto's inability to catch on.

"If he's in love with Gaara, then I'd say that ship has sailed," Naruto snapped. "You've missed that chance haven't you?"

Naruto wasn't really expecting a response. He didn't even really mean to say that out loud but he was just so damn angry. If Neji was in love with Gaara, then why was Sasuke obsessing over him so much? Naruto hadn't truly considered that Sasuke could possibly _not_ return his feelings. Neji had made Naruto feel so confident that Sasuke would definitely feel the same way about Naruto as Naruto felt about Sasuke. Now, however, Sasuke was all about Neji. Naruto cursed Neji internally. Fuck that bastard. He was just helping Naruto sort out his feelings earlier this morning and now he was all fucking Sasuke could think about. So much for Naruto having nothing to worry about. Yeah fucking right.

"Now Gaara is throwing some—" Sasuke began his own train of thought before cutting himself off abruptly and fully realizing what Naruto had just said. "What? What did you say?"

"I _said_, that ship has _sailed_, hasn't it?" Naruto repeated bitterly, deciding that, since he'd already said it, he might as well stick to his guns.

"_What?_" Sasuke asked confusedly. "What ship?"

"Neji!" Naruto said loudly, practically growling the word and shooting up from the bench. He was damn sick of Neji's name. "I'm talking about Neji, you fucking idiot!"

"_What_ is with your fucking attitude?" Sasuke demanded. He was less interested in Naruto's implications and more interested in being dubbed a "fucking idiot". Naruto was the fucking idiot here. He was the one failing to understand the gravity of the situation. He was the one moaning groaning about god knows what when something much more pressing was at hand. Had he no clue what Gaara and Neji were doing right now? Had he no idea how big this whole thing was?

"What's with _your_ attitude?" Naruto retorted and Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Don't _do_ that!" Naruto shouted. He hated it when Sasuke rolled his eyes and right now, it was ten times as irritating. Sasuke ignored the demand, though, and rolled his eyes again before answering Naruto's question.

"I've told you, Naruto! Our friend is getting his heart ripped out right now and I'm _worried_!" Sasuke shouted. Naruto snorted yet again and Sasuke was prepared to shout at Naruto for being such a shitty friend right now. However, Naruto was seething about Sasuke's choice of words and he was already making that very well known before Sasuke could get even one reprimanding word about Naruto's bad attitude in.

"Friend?" Naruto spat out irately. "Why do you keep saying 'friend' when you so _clearly_ mean something more?" Sasuke was visibly shocked by the accusation. It didn't all quite click together in his mind. He was too preoccupied with things like just how shitty Naruto's attitude was to think about _why_ his attitude was so shitty.

"I don't know _what_ you're getting at but—" Sasuke began, fully intending to lecture Naruto for going off about whatever this nonsense was while Neji's heart was being broken.

"Really?" Naruto cut in harshly. "You have no clue what I'm talking about?" Sasuke stared at Naruto for a short moment, both trying to analyze him and picking his own brain for what Naruto could possibly be talking about.

"No," Sasuke finally said and Naruto's jaw dropped in disbelief. Sasuke's ignorance only made Naruto angrier. What, was his relationship with Neji that fucking _casual_?

"The kiss!" Naruto exclaimed almost hysterically. "Your stupid _kiss _with Neji! Is that just what _friends_ do, Sasuke? Because if it is, I wonder why you haven't just kissed me yet!" Naruto added rashly, instantly regretting it. Why had he said that? He had practically just posted a giant neon sign saying 'kiss me, I'm desperate'. He tried to fight the blush creeping up his cheeks to no avail. He could only hope that Sasuke would ignore it. Naruto felt like a damn fool right now.

"It was a fluke," Sasuke said immediately, not entirely sure how else to respond. He couldn't quite grasp what Naruto's issue was right now or how to address it. So what if Sasuke had kissed Neji? Is that what Naruto was so upset about right now? Is that why he didn't care about Neji's current heartbreak or Gaara's sudden engagement?

"Well… Whatever!" Naruto exclaimed, crossing his arms and averting his eyes. Sasuke stared at him incredulously for a moment. He had to fight down a smile. Naruto was huffing and puffing because Sasuke had kissed Neji. Could it be that Naruto liked Sasuke, too? It was hard for Sasuke to _not_ be excited about that.

"What's your problem, Naruto?" Sasuke asked quietly, deciding that Naruto would have to spell it out for him plain and clear before Sasuke jumped to any conclusions. Naruto didn't answer, though, so Sasuke went on tentatively, not wanting to offend his friend should he be completely wrong. "Are you… Are you _jealous_?" Naruto blushed ridiculously and that was all the confirmation that Sasuke needed. "I don't like Neji," Sasuke added quickly and Naruto found the courage to look at his friend again, though, his blush _did_ double. "Not at all," Sasuke ensured.

"But... you kissed him," Naruto argued meekly.

"I said it was a fluke," Sasuke answered. "We were drunk and we ended up in a suggestive position and then, next thing you know, we were kissing. The second it stopped, we both knew it was all wrong. Neji is in love with Gaara and I'm..." Sasuke trailed off and nodded vaguely at Naruto, not quite sure if he had the courage to finish that sentence—not that he had to—but hoping that the nod would be enough for Naruto to get the point. Naruto blushed even deeper at what was obviously meant to fill that empty space and Sasuke was glad that he didn't have to say the words. It wasn't that he didn't want to. It was that he wasn't sure he could do it without throwing up. Sasuke had been planning and wishing for this moment for so long. He hadn't expected it to come to pass quite like this but now that it _was_ passing, he found that he wasn't prepared at all for it.

"You really love me?" Naruto whispered, his eyes locked onto Sasuke's as if his life depended on it.

"Do you really have to ask?" Sasuke answered with a smirk. He could feel his inhibitions slipping away, drowning in those deep, oceanic eyes. Naruto was washing away the fear and anxiety. Before Sasuke could question it for even a moment longer, he was opening his mouth and the words were slipping out, sounding as if they were created for this very moment in time. "I love you."

For a short moment, Naruto froze. He was analyzing every particle of his body. He noticed how his heart shot off at light speed. His entire face was flushing deeply. His breath was coming out in crazed puffs. His stomach was turning. His fingers were trembling. His knees were buckling. His eyes blurred for a moment at the onslaught of various reactions. Then, as quickly at they came, they were gone. His body stabilized as he visualized his next move. The rush of the moment had passed and he had returned quickly to homeostasis. As he pictures himself wrapped around Sasuke and kissing him fiercely for the first time, his body did not spiral into another frenzied reaction as he would have expected. Instead, he found his lips tugging up into a smile and a cool wave of peace overtaking him. He felt relaxed, like there had never been a more natural, casual moment in his life and he liked that feeling.

He liked that the idea of kissing Sasuke felt so _right_ to him and that his body began reacting without his permission, not that he was objecting to it. He wrapped his arms around Sasuke's neck without even really telling them where to go. He was too focused on Sasuke's captivating eyes. It was as if his arms already knew what to do, though. It was like they had been practicing this for years, just waiting for this specific moment to pass. His mouth was searching until it found its final resting spot against Sasuke's lips. Naruto felt that he could die there right then, attached to Sasuke that way and no one would even question it because there could be nothing more habitual than that simple action of lips meeting lips. Sasuke didn't hesitate to return Naruto's fervency with his own. The kiss was carried out perfectly. It felt like the trillionth time they had done it, as opposed to the first.

They could have stayed like that for years and they never would have known the difference. Naruto would even swear that he had actually melded _into_ Sasuke at one point. He would testify that they had actually become one single being. However, they _did_ eventually part—whether it was after ten seconds or fifty years—and when they parted, the passion surged on as their eyes locked again, feeling as if the embrace _hadn't_ been broken. They had simply surfaced for air and the electricity continued to course between them, nonetheless. In fact, you could put an entire planet between them and it still wouldn't be enough distance to discharge this pair. They had just uncovered something monumental and had either of them had the wits to wonder about anything _other_ than the perfection that was the other, they would have been wondering just _why_ they had waited so long. They would have been questioning why this hadn't come to pass years ago. Although, they would also suppose that this moment _had_ been happening since the day that they met. The tension had just been building up. The moment had only just now reached its peak.

Oh, yes, this started many, many years ago, the second that Naruto's blue orbs of energy met Sasuke's dark, invigorating gaze. The moment wouldn't end here, either. In fact, this was still somewhere near the beginning. They still had two lifetimes left to bask in each other. They still had an eternity yet to be in love.

* * *

Neji stared blankly at his computer screen, not even recognizing what he was doing anymore. He had been in the middle of typing an email to his cousin, Hinata, but he had spaced out with thoughts of Gaara. Neji and Hinata were always pretty close. She was a little younger than him but she was very sweet and understanding and he felt like she was the only one in their family who really understood him. She was _definitely_ the only one in the world who understood him and Gaara. After that blow with Sakura, Neji felt like he needed Hinata's opinion. He had no idea what to do or even how to feel.

Hinata went to the same university as Neji but she was off campus this weekend and Neji decided to send her an email. Sure, there were other, better ways to communicate with Hinata. He could call her or just wait for her to get back that night but his brain wasn't functioning that well, so he just started typing the email. It didn't look like it'd get sent anyway, considering he had been sitting at his laptop for an hour now and he had only typed one sentence.

Neji had left Gaara and his fiance in the bar, not sure where he was going. He found himself meandering toward Sasuke's apartment, probably just because it was so close. He got there, though, and found that Sasuke wasn't home, so he decided he would have to take a bus back to campus. The nearest bus stop was across the street from the bar, though, so he decided to walk to the next one. Luckily, one of his friends from his Anatomy class, Kiba, was coming out of a coffee shop just as Neji was walking by. Kiba hailed him down and offered him a ride. Kiba lived in the same building as Neji, so it was perfect, really.

Kiba felt the awkward tension radiating off of Neji, so he cranked up the radio hastily. Neji grunted quietly to Kiba on the second floor landing of their building after a long, silent walk from the car. Kiba took this as a goodbye and continued up to his dorm on the fourth floor, patting Neji on the back lightly in the only comfort he could think provide, considering he didn't know what was even wrong or how Neji would take to Kiba butting in. Neji lived in a single dorm on the second floor. Each floor of his building housed four single dorms, all equipped with kitchens and bathrooms. The only thing that they had to share was a laundry room.

Now, sitting in his dorm all alone staring through his computer, Neji was stuck replaying memories of Gaara from their childhood. He thought back to when Gaara had stopped being his happy, childish self. He was far too young to have been so sad. It was only _after_ his mother died that Gaara took on a new, fake personality. Up _until_ her death, though, Gaara was just a sad child. Neji could remember when Gaara was happy, though. They were really young then, almost too young to remember but the few memories that he had retained from back when Gaara was truly happy were the ones he replayed in his head now. He repeatedly thought back on a young Gaara and the smile that was always glued to his face. The bulk of Neji's memories with Gaara were of Gaara saddened by his mother or else someone else completely by her death. However, Neji couldn't remembered those years now. He could only remember a time when Gaara was himself.

Neji wondered when it was that he fell in love with the boy. Could it have been back then when they were mere children? Could he have always loved Gaara and just never been able to recognize it as what it was until later on in his life, until he was old enough to understand this kind of love? Neji was sure that he loved Gaara then. He had to have. Nobody could _not_ love that beaming child when he _was_ a beaming child. Nobody could _not_ feel love for that sad boy when he was tortured by his mother's decisions. Nobody could _not_ feel drawn to the magnetic young man that Gaara had become, whether it was truly him or just a mask that he hid behind. Yes, Neji and everyone else Gaara had ever met loved Gaara from the beginning. Neji was sure of it. Gaara had been his soulmate since the day they had met. Perhaps, they were infants then and they had no idea that they were meeting their best friend or their lover but that's what they were. Whether Gaara was engaged or not, Gaara had always been Neji's. Neji supposed that Gaara just didn't know that. He wasn't aware and that made Neji's heart ache.

Just then, there was a knock at his door forcing his eyes to focus back on reality. He noticed the unfinished state of his email and sighed. He had figured out how to feel finally and it was pretty damn miserable. Another knock rapped on the door and Neji started, forgetting what had brought him out of his thoughts to begin with. He sighed again. He did not want to answer the door. He did not want to talk to anyone. The persistent knock came again and Neji thought it would probably just be easier on himself if he answered and yelled at the incessant knocker. As Neji was moving from his room to the front door, the knock came yet again and Neji hurried to the door more quickly. He opened it with the intent to chastise the perpetrator but he was faced with the last person he wanted to see and he found that his words were caught in his throat, not that he would have known what to say to this particular person to begin with.

"Can I come in?" Gaara asked. Neji stared at him for a long moment before nodding faintly. Gaara walked inside and stood awkwardly near the door as Neji closed the door and leaned his back against it, staring down at the ground.

"Can I help you?" Neji asked softly, trying to keep his eyes averted and his face indifferent.

"I wanted to explain," Gaara said slowly. He honestly wasn't sure what he was thinking. He had gotten out of Sakura's clutches on the pretense of going to talk to Sasuke but he found himself at Neji's door, instead. He had no clue _what_ he was going to say. He couldn't explain, could he? So what was he doing here? Neji raised a brow at Gaara's words and lifted his eyes to settle on Gaara's anxious features.

"Then, explain," Neji said dryly and he was pleased to find that this emotionless shell of himself was easy to execute. It wasn't hard to slip back into that vacant emptiness that he had been locked away in before Gaara had knocked. It wasn't terribly difficult to push the emotions away and pretend he was numb, for the bulk of him truly was still numb. It was only a small piece that had began to wander off in the direction of despair. He wasn't too far gone to blank out again and for this, he was thankful. Gaara stared at Neji for a long moment, panicking internally as he searched for something, _anything_ to say. "I'm listening," Neji prodded flatly.

"I-I'm sorry," Gaara blurted out.

"That's not an explanation," Neji pointed out. "I don't want your pity, Gaara. I want your..." Neji let the sentence die, feeling that both Gaara and himself could guess where it was going and thinking that, perhaps, they were the best words to say when trying to remain unaffected and appear uninterested. Gaara looked down at the ground, feeling the unspoken words stab at his chest. Of course, Neji wanted his love and Gaara was here just reminding him that he couldn't have it. What was Gaara thinking? He was regretting his journey to the dorm right about then.

"I wish I could explain," Gaara said quietly. "I wish I could make you understand."

"You came to tell me that you want to explain and your explanation is that you can't explain?" Neji asked coolly and Gaara continued to stare at the ground. "Well, thanks for your explanation but you can go now." Gaara didn't move, though, so Neji opened his door, silently ordering the redhead to leave. Gaara glanced up at the door and then back down quickly, hoping that the door would just disappear if he didn't look at it. Then, he would be trapped there with Neji forever and things could be different. Of course, disappearing off of the face of the planet would still probably count as disappointing Sakura and then his friends and family would still die... but he _would_ have Neji. That would be enough, would it? Gaara shook his head vigorously. How could he think that? He couldn't sacrifice everyone else just for his selfish relationship with Neji. Why was he even entertaining this stupid idea to begin with? That door wasn't going to disappear. It would remain there for anyone to walk through and find him should they decide to do so. Gaara would never have Neji and Gaara knew that. That fact felt like the end of his world and as he watched the end of his world slip closer and closer to himself, he felt reckless and the words started coming out before he could think better of them.

"Neji," Gaara began quietly, "I really do lo—"

"Goodbye," Neji cut in quickly, not wanting to hear the words. Gaara had no right to say that he loved Neji, not now, not after everything.

"I—" Gaara began again, still feeling reckless and desperate to confess his feelings.

"Gaara?" a different voice interjected, causing both Neji and Gaara's heads to snap to the doorway. There stood Naruto, looking as confused as ever. "What are you doing here?"

"Gaara?" Sasuke questioned as he stepped into view too. Sasuke caught sight of the redhead and began to glare relentlessly at him.

"Great," Gaara said quietly. The sight of Naruto and Sasuke had brought him back to reality. Confessing to Neji would have caused complications and complications could very easily mean dead friends, friends like Naruto and Sasuke. He wanted to but Gaara could not confess and Naruto had just saved their lives by interrupting, whether he knew it or not. Gaara, then, realized that it was a bit too risky to be here with Neji right now. He had told Sakura he would never see him again. He had also told Sakura that he was with Sasuke. He needed to get out of this dorm and into Sasuke's solitary company if he wanted to be safe. Sakura wasn't crazy enough to stalk Gaara but Kizashi's men could very well be lurking around and watching Gaara's every move. He wouldn't put it past them. "I really _did_ need to talk to you, Sasuke," Gaara said, initiating his plan to get out of Neji's company immediately. "That's where I told Sakura I was—"

"How dare you say her name here?" Sasuke snapped.

"Sasuke, just don't," Neji said pleadingly. "Gaara is _leaving_ anyway."

Gaara thought vaguely about how grateful he _should_ be that Neji was demanding his departure. It was how things _should_ be. Gaara shouldn't be there. It was dangerous but the fact that Neji was demanding that Gaara leave because he simply didn't want to be around Gaara and _not_ because it was dangerous made Gaara want to stay put. It made him want to make things right with Neji and when he looked to Neji, his resolve to leave was diminished. Neji wouldn't meet his eyes, though.

Neji held Sasuke's gaze intently. They seemed to be having a silent conversation but Naruto felt that it was a bit too intimate for his liking, so he instinctively grabbed Sasuke's hand, wanting to claim his property clearly in front of Neji. No matter what Sasuke said, they had still kissed. Not to mention, Neji was busy getting his heart stomped on. Naruto didn't want Neji seeking any _special_ comfort from his now boyfriend. Naruto was going to make it very clear to Neji that Sasuke was officially Naruto's now. Neji's eyes shot to the action as Naruto grabbed Sasuke's hand. Sasuke didn't really notice the action. He took Neji's distraction as an opportunity to glare back at Gaara who was watching Neji closely, longingly even. Sasuke found this intriguing. What was Gaara's deal? He wanted Sakura but he wanted Neji, too?. Naruto was watching Neji just as closely as Gaara, looking for any sign of his reaction to Naruto's claim. To his surprise, Neji smiled.

Neji's chest was constricting tightly as he thought about how he'd never have Gaara that way. He'd never hold Gaara's hand. He'd never be able to jealously claim Gaara. He'd never get to kiss Gaara. Gaara was engaged to some stupid, pink-haired chick and Gaara hadn't even mentioned her even once before. Apparently, along with never being his lover, Neji was never Gaara's friend, either. At least, he wasn't a friend important enough to know that he was dating someone long enough to get fucking _engaged_. Those thoughts had Neji rapidly approaching tears. He was truly happy for Naruto and Sasuke because they belonged together. What he wasn't happy about was the way that it was making him feel. Determined to _not_ cry in front of Gaara no matter what, Neji said forcefully, "Didn't I tell you to go?"

Gaara made no sign of recognition. Honestly, he was probably too lost in his thoughts to actually hear the remark. He simply continued to stare at Neji who continued to stare at Naruto's and Sasuke's hands. Sasuke was engulfed in Gaara's expression. He was overtaken by the desire to understand Gaara. He hadn't gotten a chance to really talk to Gaara before Naruto and Neji had arrived at the bar and now Gaara was contradicting his own actions so blatantly. Had Neji been looking at Gaara, he would have been shocked at what he would see. Gaara was straight up pining over Neji and it was painfully obvious.

"Let's talk," Sasuke said loudly. The volume of his voice caused everyone to look at him. "Let's go for a walk, Gaara."

Gaara looked at Sasuke vacantly for a long moment before coming out of his mind and saying, "I have to get home. Sa—_she_ is waiting for me and she'll have my head if I'm not back and probably all of yours too... literally." Gaara chuckled dryly at his pun. They all just had no idea how true that statement was. They had no clue what Gaara was doing for _them_. He wanted to sigh loudly and proclaim his dejection but he forced a weak smile, instead. He wanted to talk to Sasuke, to explain and he could see the cogs turning in Sasuke's brain. He was figuring it all out as they spoke. Gaara couldn't do it just then, though. He couldn't talk to Sasuke yet, not until his mind was cleared of Neji. He was compromised right now. He wasn't thinking straight. He had to go home. "We'll talk another time, Sasuke."

With those words, Gaara left. Once Gaara was through the door to the staircase, Naruto and Sasuke entered Neji's apartment but Neji was nowhere in sight. Naruto closed the front door and Sasuke stopped in front of Neji's bedroom where he could hear Neji crying. He motioned silently at Neji's bedroom door to Naruto, a look of concern draping over his face. Naruto quickly and quietly padded to Sasuke's side. He shot Sasuke a glance and Sasuke immediately stepped away from the door and shook his head no. Naruto figured that Sasuke was probably going to be a lot more careful around Neji now that Naruto had expressed his jealously. Hell, he _had_ just staked a giant claim on Sasuke, practically shouting to the world that no one was to even look at him without Naruto's permission. This was one time in which Naruto would not be jealous of Neji, though. He needed comfort and Naruto felt like Sasuke should be the one to give it. Neji and Sasuke shared the same uptight, stick-up-their-ass attitude. Maybe that would make it easier for Sasuke to comfort him.

Naruto jerked his head at the door, silently commanding Sasuke to go inside and comfort their friend. Sasuke mouthed the words "you do it", though, and Naruto rolled his eyes. In the end, Sasuke was probably right. Sasuke _was_ pretty bad at comforting people in general. This was something Naruto knew. Naruto had always been better at that sort of thing. With a stick up your ass or not, comforting was probably the same for everyone and Sasuke probably wouldn't do it too well for anyone, so Naruto took a deep breath and pushed the door open slowly. Neji acknowledged Naruto by glancing at him before burying his face back into his pillow and crying even harder. Naruto sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed his friend's back, talking in low, hushed voices to console him.

Sasuke stayed in the doorway, though, imaging all the ways that he could cause Gaara pain that would be equivalent to Neji's. In one short morning, Gaara had gone from friend to foe. Sasuke didn't wonder just _how_ this drastic change had come about, though. He simply wanted Gaara to suffer. If Neji was going to hurt, Gaara should hurt, too.


	8. Chapter 8: Debts

**A/N:** This is a short chapter but it's the end, so cut me some slack. Thanks to everyone who has followed this fic. I'm glad for your support. This may one day be revived and continued... who knows, but it _is_ goodbye for now. I really hope you've enjoyed it.

* * *

**Chapter Eight: Debts**

It had been four miserable weeks since Gaara's engagement was announced. Naruto had chosen to stay out of things as best that he could. He didn't want to end up taking sides. He wanted to be there for Neji, but he couldn't pretend that he didn't miss Gaara. He would occasionally text him or meet up with him after a class, but he did no more than that, not wanting to upset Neji too much. It wasn't like Neji would be angry if Naruto spent time with Gaara. It was just that Neji would break down in tears every time someone said his name and Naruto was afraid his tongue would slip. Gaara was understanding too, and Naruto was thankful for that. He could only hope that everything would get easier with time. Neji would, eventually, stop being so sensitive about the subject of Gaara. Then, Naruto could talk about him again and he wouldn't have to worry so much about who he hung out with. Sure, both Neji and Gaara acted like it didn't matter, but Naruto couldn't shake the feeling that it really did.

Sasuke, however, had taken back to Gaara surprisingly well. He was a lot better at keeping his trap shut than Naruto was though, so he spent a lot more time with Gaara. Sasuke was good at _not_ feeling inclined to talk about the things they did; Naruto was not. Naruto was actually shocked by how many times he had tried to meet up with Sasuke only to find that he was busy with Gaara. It was getting kind of frustrating. Sasuke was finally Naruto's boyfriend, but he was spending all of his time with Gaara. What, was he going to kiss Gaara next? Shit, Sasuke was just making his rounds, wasn't he? Naruto would admit that he was confused. A month ago, Sasuke was all about Neji and getting back at Gaara, but now he's agreed to be in Gaara's wedding. What happened?

In fact, Gaara had asked Sasuke to be his _best man_. Naruto was asked to be Gaara's sole groomsman, so he wasn't jealous. He was just confused. How had they come to be so close? What exactly did they _do_ when they met up so often? Sakura's bridesmaid was her friend TenTen and her maid of honor was some chick named Ino. Naruto didn't really care about who they were because he didn't expect to be seeing much of them or even much of Sakura, for that matter. Sasuke had mentioned that he hadn't met Sakura even once since that unspeakable incident at the bar. Gaara seemed pretty intent on keeping his friends separate from her. Even though he knew Neji would be at home all alone bawling his eyes out over it, Naruto couldn't help but be excited about the wedding, so you can only imagine the smile plastered across his face when the day came to pass.

Of course Naruto had no clue what they were talking about, but Sasuke and Gaara were huddled up in a corner. Naruto figured that it was just some official, boring best man/groom bullshit that he didn't really care to hear anyway. He had no idea that Gaara had actually explained his whole predicament to Sasuke. He had told Sasuke about his mother's debts and about how the bulk of his life was spent being held hostage in his own home. He explained that the only way to grant his family freedom was to keep Sakura happy and that, after Sakura had decided on marriage, the only way to keep his friends safe too was to go along with it and never look back. That was what kept Sasuke from getting even with Gaara. Knowing exactly why Gaara was doing what he was doing made it awfully hard for Sasuke to be angry. For the past month, the pair had been discussing the situation and trying to figure out how to get Gaara off the hook without Kizashi deciding to kill them. It wasn't easy to get a divorce and still make your wife happy though. That was for sure.

It was proving to be an impossible feat until something struck Sasuke the night before the wedding. That was what he and Gaara were discussing now and what Naruto was watching unfold from a good distance away. Now that Naruto really looked actually, it seemed like they were arguing. Gaara was using his hands animatedly and, although he could only see the back of Sasuke's head, Naruto knew Sasuke well enough to see that he was pretty riled up too. Sasuke then turned abruptly and began walking away from Gaara, who grabbed Sasuke's arm roughly. Sasuke just shrugged him off and continued to walk out into the milling crowd that was waiting for the wedding to begin. Gaara met Naruto's eyes and Naruto rushed over, not entirely sure what had happened but recognizing the 'I need to talk' look.

* * *

"Are you the bride's father?" Sasuke asked a man sitting alone in the front row innocently. The man looked back at Sasuke and smiled what appeared to be a genuine smile.

"Yes," he said kindly, "and a proud one at that. Who are you, may I ask?"

"The best man," Sasuke answered with the professional smile that he always used when getting into business that required his last name. He offered his hand and Kizashi stood to shake it. "Sasuke Uchiha." Kizashi's smile faltered momentarily.

"Nice to meet you, Sasuke," he said professionally. "My name is—"

"Kizashi Haruno," Sasuke finished for him. "I know." The man nodded stiffly. "I would guess that it's rather obvious, me being the best man and all, but I'm a good friend of the groom," Sasuke informed casually but Kizashi offered no response. "I really do hate to see him struggle," Sasuke added. Kizashi simply stared blankly. "I hope I don't need to explain," Sasuke finished a bit impatiently. The man scowled but recovered quickly. Even if he felt that Sasuke was no real threat to himself, he was still an Uchiha and that fact alone demanded a certain level of respect.

"I don't think I understand exactly what it is that you're saying," Kizashi said coolly. Sasuke tsked.

"Well, I must say that I'm not exactly shocked by your lack of understanding. You _are_ the man that thought it smart to target an Uchiha to begin with." Sasuke released a dry chuckle and went on in an even drier tone that emanated business. "I'm saying that you will consider Karura's debt paid," Sasuke said simply. Kizashi snorted.

"I don't take orders from chil—" Kizashi began.

"You _do_ what I _tell_ you to do," Sasuke interrupted. "Apparently, you have forgotten what the name Uchiha means. You can trust that I _have_ had a chat with my father. I don't _need_ his authority to have you disposed of, of course, but I thought it prudent to inform him of your misgivings, nonetheless. Surely, he will deal with you as _he_ pleases." Kizashi paled. "In short, Kizashi, when my friends aren't happy, I'm not happy; when I'm not happy, no one is happy; and when you're involved, you pay."

"You think you're so clever?" Kizashi said resentfully.

"Are you implying that I, Sasuke Uchiha, am stupid?" Sasuke asked daringly, raising a brow, as if inwardly laughing at this man's boldness or, perhaps, foolishness.

"I wasn't saying _that_ exactly," Kizashi began to defend himself, feeling regretful of his word choice.

"I'll be blunt," Sasuke interjected. "I'm not feeling patient. If you prefer my father's judgement over mine, then so be it, but I don't expect he'll be as forgiving as I."

"Your father would never dispose of me," Kizashi said sternly, the uncertainty in his voice still detectable, try as he might to conceal it. "He needs me too much."

"Uchihas need no one," Sasuke said through a sigh and with a roll of his eyes. "I'm getting bored with this. I guess you'd like to take this up with my father then." Sasuke began to turn before Kizashi spoke in a fevered voice. Sasuke smirked as he reveled in the triumph of breaking the bastard who had caused Gaara so much torture.

"Wait!" Kizashi exclaimed quickly. He recovered his dignity just as fast. "I would like to hear you out."

"It's simple," Sasuke said as he turned back to face Kizashi. His face was impassive, but his eyes were promising Kizashi a terrible fate, should he push his limits. Kizashi gulped hard, feeling very rueful of the fact that he had been so successfully intimidated by someone so young. "Because we are an honorable family, we will, of course, pay Karura's debt back in full. Whatever else that money cannot cover will be forgotten," Sasuke said quietly and, yet, so forcefully. "You will leave Gaara, his family, his father's company, his friends, and whoever else I say alone. Do you understand me, Kizashi?"

"Yes," Kizashi said gruffly after a short moment.

"Good," Sasuke said softly. "I do hope that we never meet again but _should_ we, expect that my patience will be quite exhausted." Sasuke's hard stare on Kizashi informed the man that Sasuke was dead serious. He wouldn't admit it out loud, but he was hoping he _would_ never meet Sasuke again. Even if he was young, he held a lot of power too. Just having the name Uchiha allowed one the luxury of being rid of whoever one wanted. Kizashi was glad when Sasuke began to retreat without another word. He found himself cursing beneath his breath when Sasuke stopped and half turned to speak again.

"Oh, I almost forgot. You can, of course, do as you please with this wedding, but I don't expect that Gaara will make it to the altar. I hope that you find a nice way to explain to your daughter why you've blackmailed her fiance into marrying her," Sasuke added with a satisfied smirk.

Kizashi wanted very badly to punch the boy but he knew better than to be so stupid. It was only by a desperate wish that Sasuke didn't _actually_ hold any Uchiha power that urged Kizashi to be so rude to the boy to begin with. After a few of Sasuke's convincing words, however, Kizashi came right to his senses. Sasuke had the power to be rid of Kizashi at the age of five. Uchihas were just raised that way. All business; no play. It was damn foolish to oppose the boy, whether he was half of Kizashi's age or not. He was a bloody Uchiha, for fuck's sake. Honestly, Sasuke dealing with Kizashi himself was, for certain, in Kizashi's best interests. His punishment being left to Fugaku would be the worst thing that could happen to him. Kizashi found himself hoping that Sasuke would indeed be merciful and refrain from actually sending him to his father, for that would likely be sending him to his grave. When it came to business, Fugaku was relentless. When it came to family, he was even worse. You don't get to be the top dog in the country on all frontiers by being forgiving though, do you?

Kizashi had never expected Gaara to befriend Sasuke fucking Uchiha though. Had he known, he would have called off the debt or made other arrangements that _didn't_ inadvertently involve _any_ Uchiha _anywhere_. It was just Gaara's damn luck that he befriended one of the only boys in the world who could possibly boss Kizashi himself around. Kizashi cursed underneath his breath as he stalked past Sasuke and down the aisle to find his daughter. Unlike Gaara's father, Kizashi truly cared for his only child. He was dreading his daughter's inevitable devastation. He had, certainly, fucked this one up. Once he saw Kizashi's head turn the corner and disappear, Sasuke pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

"Hey, you need to get down to the wedding hall right now..."

* * *

Neji was panting hard. His heart was hammering wildly in his chest with panic. He had been running since the bus stop three long, exhausting blocks ago, but he could not stop. He had to keep going. Everything depended on him persevering, so he ran on. He rounded a corner and flew through tall doors without hesitation. He could see where he needed to go. Once he was through those double doors down the hall, everything would change. He ran madly, his feet pounding loudly on the ground. He burst through the double doors and shouted incoherently in triumph.

"Stop!" he demanded breathlessly after a moment. "Don't... Don't..."

Neji looked up and around at the faces watching him, realizing that he didn't recognize any of them. Shouldn't he recognize _someone_? His eyes traveled slowly up to the front of the room, afraid of what he would see. His breath caught in his throat and his cheeks went beet red. What was this? Who was she? Who was _he_? What the fuck? Where _was_ Neji? What did he just _do_?

"Neji?" a familiar voice called from just outside the double doors, still out of sight. Neji whipped around quickly just as a head of red hair dressed in a tuxedo came into view. Gaara's eyes widened as he took in the outraged faces of the bride and groom standing at the altar, glaring down at Neji.

"I'm _so_ sorry!" Gaara said quickly, grabbing Neji by the arm and yanking him out of the room. He began to close the double doors. "I'm sorry! Oh god, I'm so sorry! Carry on. Congratulations! I'm sorry!" When the doors were closed, Gaara sighed heavily. "What are you _doing_?" Gaara asked severely, pulling a dazed Neji along behind him down the hall. "Are you crazy?! You just interrupted a fucking wedding! What, did you just pick the first doors you saw and decide to bust in?" Gaara pulled Neji through a door into the room he had been waiting in with Naruto and Sasuke, both of whom were indisposed by the other's lips. "Sasuke told me that he talked to you and I knew you were coming, but I didn't expect you to come in here guns blazing ready t—"

Gaara cut off abruptly when Neji launched himself at the redhead. Neji wrapped his arms so tightly around Gaara's neck that Gaara was actually struggling to breathe. Gaara hugged Neji back but choked out, "I can't _breathe_, Neji." Neji loosened his hold only enough to allow his friend air.

"I'm _so_ sorry," Neji said quietly into Gaara's neck.

"Don't be!" Gaara said quickly. "You had no way to know."

"But I _should_ have known!" Neji argued. "After all these years, I should have known you better than that."

"What good would that have done?" Gaara asked. "Either I'm a great actor or you're just naive. Either way, we should all be thankful that you _didn't_ know. It probably just would have gotten us all killed."

"I guess you're right," Neji whispered after a short moment, tightening his grip again. "I wouldn't have let that bitch have you if I _had_ known. I would have hunted her father down. I would have killed them all. I would have—" Gaara chuckled.

"I love you, Neji," Gaara interrupted. Neji released his friend, his arms hanging loosely around Gaara's neck. He leaned back to look Gaara in the eyes and silently stared into the emerald pools long enough for Gaara to get anxious. Eventually, he smiled and returned the sentiment.

"I love you too," he whispered and Gaara felt a chill run down his spine. Fuck. It all just felt so fucking right. Neji wasted no time in doing the one thing that he had been fantasizing about doing for years. He finally had Gaara in clutches. Here he was, staring him in the eyes and admitting his love. Not only that, but Gaara was returning it in full force. This was Neji's chance to finally kiss the man of his dreams, and kiss him he did. The moment that their lips met, Neji sighed contentedly.

The most extraordinary of things happened to Neji, and it wasn't a fireworks display or a surge of electricity surging through his body; it was the simple fact that he was kissing Gaara. It was no extraordinary kiss. Lips met lips, as they always do. What took Neji over the edge was that simple fact, the fact that it was _Gaara_ that he was kissing. The fact that this specific redheaded bombshell was holding onto him so passionately and kissing him back was what pushed the kiss beyond the realm of ordinary. In honesty, if any truly extraordinary things _had_ happened to him, he may very well have just passed out, for this simple act of lips on lips was enough to make him weak in the knees. In fact, he just might buckle over right now, but that wouldn't really matter because Gaara's arms were wrapped securely around him and that was just how everything should always be.

If he had the capacity to think through the bliss, Neji would be wondering what more he could ask for, and his answer would be something along the lines of... absolutely nothing. It may be hopeless romantics, but fuck if anyone really cares about that. Neji would swear that the boundaries between fantasy and reality were rather blurred right now, so imaging that he could live a long and healthy life solely off of Gaara's kisses was easy.

He would trade anything for that euphoric life. He would give everything to stay like this forever, to never need food or sleep or water or even _air_. He would make a deal with the devil, if it meant that he could just kiss Gaara for the rest of his life, even if the cost was his soul. It may all sound a bit overzealous to you, but we've already covered how blurred those lines between sensible and insanity are right now anyway, haven't we? Yes, so Neji _would_ offer his life to stay like this for all eternity. He would sign _any_ binding contract, and it would be a simple deal, easily made. _Just Tit For Tat_.


End file.
